WHY  I  BELIEVE 

IJTHE  BIBLE 


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>  PRINCETON,  N.J.  \f/ 


Presented   by  cJVnC    0\\A^V\OT, 


o..i,.n B.SS30 

.B96 

Section 


WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 


By 

David  James  Burrell,  D.  D.  * 

«  Dr.  Burrell's  sermons  warm  the  heart  and 
cheer  the  spirit.  His  faith  helps  and  strength- 
ens, and  his  style  and  method  are  his  own.  We 
wish  most  heartily  that  these  good  sermons 
might  be  preached  in  every  church  in  the  land." 
— Clmrxh  Standard. 

The  Sermon :  Its  Construction 
and  Delivery.     8vo,  cloth,  .  .net;?  1.50 

The  Wayfarers  of  the  Bible,  inter- 
national Leaders'  Library.     i2mo,  cloth,  net  .60 

Christ  and  Progress.  A  Discussion  of  the 
Problems  of  Our  Times.  International  Leaders^ 
Library.     1 2mo,  cloth net  .60 

The  Wonderful  Teacher  and  What 
He  Taught.      12  mo,  cloth,    .    .    net  .60 


WHY   I  BELIEVE  THE 
BIBLE 


^i  Or  ?mc^ 


V 


X.-  -^<?A 


BY 


JAN    7  1918 


DAVID  JAMES  BURRELL 

Fattor  of  the  Marble  Collegiate  Church,  New  York 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming    H.   Revell    Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  N.  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  St.,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:    100    Princes    Street 


THIS  BOOK 
IS  DEDICATED  TO 

OUR  OLD-FASHIONED  MOTHERS 

WHO,  WITH  ALL  THEIR  KNOWING, 

-^'JUST  KNOW  THEIR  BIBLES  TRUE" 

AND  LIVE  THAT  WAY 


CONTENTS 


Foreword 

. 

II 

I 

The  Antecedent  Presumption  . 

15 

II 

The  Claim:  Is  It  Verified? 

18 

III 

An  Unaccountable  Unity  . 

26 

IV 

Its  Completeness   . 

31 

V 

Its  Sufficiency 

^      35 

VI 

Its  Literary  Value 

.      43 

VII 

Its  Up-to-date-ness 

.      57 

VIII 

Its  Tone  of  Authority 

.      66 

IX 

Its  Trustworthiness     . 

73 

X 

Its  Influence  on  Personal  Life 

n 

XI 

Its  Influence  on  National  Life 

.      87 

XII 

Its    Place    in    the    Forefront    oi 

? 

Events           

.       94 

XIII 

It  Is,  Christ's  Book 

106 

XIV 

Excursus  .       .       . 

125 

XV 

It  Is  the  Church's  Book 

.     135 

XVI 

It  Is  Everybody's  Book  . 

.     144 

XVII 

Its  System  of  Doctrine 

.     150 

CVIII 

Its  Moral  Code 

.     156 

XIX 

Its  Plan  of  Salvation  . 

.     164 

XX 

Its  Enemies     . 

.     168 

XXI 

Its  Indestructibility    . 

•     183 

Afterword        .       .       . 

.     190 

I  might  almost  say  to  the  Lord, 

"  Here  is  a  tribute  to  thy  Word, 

Written  out  with  much  toil  and  pain : 

Take  it,  O  Lord,  and  let  it  be 

As  something  I  have  done  for  thee.'* 

— Adapted  from  Friar  Pacificus, 


FOREWORD 

A  BOY  who  had  been  dedicated  to  the  ministry 
at  birth  and  constantly  kept  in  remembrance  of 
that  fact  by  a  pious  mother  left  home  at  sixteen 
to  prepare  himself  for  the  work  before  him.  On 
being  exposed  to  the  adverse  winds  of  current  un- 
belief he  drifted  from  the  moorings  of  faith  little  by 
little  until,  at  the  conclusion  of  his  college  course,  he 
found  himself  without  chart  or  compass  on  an  open 
sea. 

The  choice  of  a  profession  was  then  before  him. 
Not  without  an  inward  struggle  he  resolved  to  enter 
upon  a  theological  course  in  the  hope  of  regaining 
a  sufficient  measure  of  faith  to  warrant  his  going  on. 
It  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  the  experiment 
would  fail.  No  man  in  such  a  quicksand  can  recover 
his  footing  by  a  dead  lift;  any  more  than  a  planet 
which  has  swerved  from  its  orbit  can  automatically 
save  itself  from  exile  in  infinite  space. 

Those  were  dreary  years;  four  miserable  years  of 
evasion,  of  compromise  with  conscience,  of  vain  efforts 
to  travel  in  "  the  middle  of  the  road."  It  was  a  hope- 
less case.  There  is  no  middle  of  the  road.  If  Christ 
was  not  what  he  claimed  to  be  but  only  a  man,  justly 
condemned  to  death  for  "  making  himself  equal  with 
God  " ;  if  the  Bible  is  not  what  it  claims  to  be  but  a 
mere  book  among  books,  to  be  laughed  out  of  court  for 

IX 


12  FOREWORD 

assuming  to  have  been  "  written  by  holy  men  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God  " ;  if  the  manger  and 
the  Cross  and  the  open  sepulchre  are  to  be  explained 
away  as  figments  of  the  imagination,  without  basis 
in  fact  or  any  practical  bearing  on  the  life  here  or 
hereafter;  what  need  is  there  of  the  ministry  or  what 
excuse  can  be  offered  for  entering  it? 

So  the  young  man  reasoned  within  himself  that, 
with  all  the  avenues  of  strenuous  life  open  before  him, 
he  would  obviously  be  a  fool  to  choose  a  ministry 
without  a  message  and  a  knave  to  assume  vows  which 
were  better  kept  in  the  breach  than  in  the  observance. 
Thus  doubting  and  questioning  this  "  candidate  for 
holy  orders  '*  stood  at  the  crossing  of  the  ways. 

Just  then  he  was  unexpectedly  called  to  minister  at 
a  deathbed.  An  old  Scotchman,  who  had  been  trained 
at  a  Highland  fireside  but  had  wandered  far  from 
the  landmarks  of  truth  and  righteousness,  was  look- 
ing into  the  dark  with  frightened  eyes.  All  night  long 
he  kept  saying,  "  Tell  me  how  to  face  God !  Is  there  a 
God?  Was  Christ  his  only-begotten  Son?  Did  he 
die  for  me?  Can  his  blood  cleanse  from  all  sin? 
Read  me  what  the  Bible  says  about  it. — But  wait;  is 
the  Bible  true  ?  They  say  it's  no  better  than  any  other 
book.  What  do  you  think  ?  Man,  I  am  dying !  Don't 
trifle  now.    Tell  me." 

All  night  long!  Put  yourself  in  the  place  of  that 
young  man.  What  would  you  have  done?  At  day- 
break he  found  himself  on  his  knees,  humbled  and  put 
to  shame  by  the  manifest  interposition  of  a  loving 
God.  In  trying  to  tell  a  sinner  how  to  die  he  had 
himself  found  out  how  to  live.    At  daybreak,  by  the 


FOREWORD  13 

side  of  the  dead,  the  living  stood  up  and  praised  God. 

The  doorway  into  the  ministry  was  now  open  be- 
fore him.  With  Christ  as  his  Saviour  and  the  Bible 
as  an  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  conduct,  he  could 
assume  the  vows  of  his  ordination  with  the  clear  con- 
science of  an  honest  man.  He  had  his  message  to 
deliver  as  an  ambassador  of  Christ;  a  message  in- 
volving the  issues  of  eternal  life.  Whether  he  would 
preach  or  not  was  no  longer  an  open  question:  he 
must  preach,  because  he  had  something  to  say,  some- 
thing worth  while,  something  with  the  sanction  of  a 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  behind  it. 

Half  a  century  has  passed  since  these  things  hap- 
pened. The  young  preacher  in  the  meantime  has  at- 
tended many  deathbeds  and  ministered  to  multitudes 
of  the  Hving;  nor  has  he  ever  wavered  in  his  convic- 
tion that  Christ  is  faithful  and  that  the  Bible  is  a  de- 
pendable book  to  live  by  and  die  by. 

D.  J.  B. 

New  York 


THE  ANTECEDENT  PRESUMPTION 

IF  I  regarded  the  Scripture  as  a  mingled  tissue 
cf  truth  and  falsehood  or  as  merely  "  contain- 
ing "  a  less  or  greater  modicum  of  truth,  I  could 
not  as  an  honest  man  say  that  I  believe  it.  But  I  do 
believe  it:  and  I  mean  precisely  what  I  say.  To  my 
mind  the  Book  is  not  true  in  spots,  but  true  and  trust- 
worthy from  beginning  to  end. 

And  this  is  the  historic  faith  of  the  Christian 
Church  all  along  the  ages.  The  enemies  of  the  Bible 
make  so  much  noise  at  times  that  old-fashioned  be- 
lievers are  moved  to  lament  as  Elijah  did  under  the 
juniper-tree,  ''  They  have  forsaken  thy  Covenant  and 
thrown  down  thine  altars;  and  I  even  I  only  am 
left " ;  but  battles  are  not  won  with  wind  instruments ; 
and  neither  faith  nor  reason  builds  its  altars  under 
juniper-trees.  There  are  multitudes  in  Israel  who 
have  not  bowed  their  knees  to  Baal.  The  shouting 
and  the  tumult  cease;  but  truth  and  righteousness 
fight  on  to  certain  victory  in  the  long  run. 

It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  a  conservative:  not  inac- 
tively, like  reservoirs  of  still  water,  but  progressively, 
like  rivers  that  keep  within  their  banks  while  rolling 
on  toward  the  sea.  We  are  bound  to  move  with  the 
moving  world,  providing  we  do  not  move  away  from 
the  immovable  faith  which  was  "  once  for  all  deliv- 

15 


16  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

ered  to  the  saints."  We  must  needs  keep  open  house 
for  Truth  but  by  the  same  token  we  are  bound  to 
double-bolt  our  doors  when  Falsehood  knocks  and 
cries,  "  Let  me  in !  " 

Whether  a  man  believes  his  Bible  or  rejects  it,  two 
things  may  be  fairly  required  of  him.  On  the  one 
hand  he  must  frankly  and  truthfully  state  his  posi- 
tion, without  mumbHng  or  mouthing;  and  on  the 
other  he  must  be  able  always  to  give  an  answer  to 
every  man  that  asketh  him  a  reason  for  it. 

There  is  something  to  be  said,  before  we  go  a  step 
further,  about  the  reasonableness  of  looking  for  a 
Revelation  of  some  sort.  This,  while  it  proves  noth- 
ing, will  prepare  the  way  for  positive  propositions 
further  on. 

The  presumption  runs  on  this  wise,  //  there  is  a 
God  anywhere  in  the  universe,  and  if  that  God  is  our 
Father,  he  would  certainly  not  leave  us  in  doubt  as 
to  the  great  problems  in  which  are  involved  the  issues 
of  eternal  life. 

If  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  an  earthly  father  to 
comfort  his  children  in  distress  by  assuring  them  of 
his  wise  purposes  concerning  them,  our  Father  in 
heaven  would  certainly  do  no  less.     (Matthew  7:  11.) 

If  a  well  disposed  king  puts  up  finger-boards  to 
guide  wayfarers  through  the  dense  forests  and  along 
the  perplexing  roads  of  his  domain,  the  King  of  kings 
would  assuredly  not  leave  his  subjects  to  wander  at 
their  wits'  end. 

Plato  lamented  that  he  was  adrift  upon  a  raft  with 
no  rudder  at  hand  nor  guiding  star  before  him;  yet 
even  he,  pagan  though  he  was,  ventured  the  hope  that 


THE  ANTECEDENT  PRESUMPTION    17 

the  gods  would  some  time  '*  give  us  a  good  staunch 
boat  to  sail  in."  This  was  the  expression  of  a  uni- 
versal instinct.  Assuming  a  God,  it  would  appear 
that  somewhere  there  must  be  a  clear  and  distinct 
Revelation  not  only  of  himself  but  of  his  beneficent 
plans  and  purposes  concerning  us. 

So  much  for  the  antecedent  presumption.  We 
shall  now  place  over  against  it  the  Claim  of  the  Bible 
itself  to  be  precisely  such  a  Revelation  as  would  be 
expected  of  a  just  and  loving  God. 


II 

THE  CLAIM:  IS  IT  VERIFIED? 

THE  claim  of  the  Book  is  threefold;  and  it  is 
expressed  in  no  uncertain  terms: 
First:  it  claims  to  be  inspired.  Nor  does 
it  leave  us  in  the  least  possible  doubt  as  to  what  it 
means  by  "  inspiration."  The  word  is  theopnustia, 
literally,  ''breathed  of  God."     (H  Timothy  3:  16.) 

I  breathe  upon  a  window  on  a  frosty  morning  and 
leave  there  a  lace-work  picture  of  turreted  palaces  and 
landscapes  and  armies  marching  to  battle  with  dia- 
mond-pointed spears.  So  God  once  breathed  through 
human  lips  upon  a  series  of  parchments  which  are 
called  the  Scriptures.  The  deposit  left  upon  those 
original  parchments  was  the  very  breath  (pneuma) 
of  God.  Wherefore  it  must  have  been  inerrant  truth ; 
since  it  is  unthinkable  that  God  should  breathe  a  lie. 

Second:  the  Book  claims  to  be  inspired  in  a  definite 
and  singular  way :  namely,  "  The  prophecy  came  not 
at  any  time  by  the  will  of  man ;  but  holy  men  of  God 
spake  as  they  were  moved  (or  borne  onward)  b}/  the 
Spirit  {pneuma,  'the  breath')  of  God."  (H  Peter 
1 :2i.) 

It  thus  appears  that  the  sacred  writers  were  some- 
thing more  than  mere  amanuenses.  While  free  to  ex- 
press the  divinely-revealed  truth  in  their  own  words 
and  according  to  their  own  mental  processes,  they  were 

18 


THE  CLAIM:  IS  IT  VERIFIED?  19 

so  "  borne  onward  "  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  to  be  safe- 
guarded, on  the  one  hand,  against  all  possible  error 
and  directed,  on  the  other,  into  a  clear  statement  of 
truth  precisely  as  God  would  have  it. 

Third:  this  singular  claim  is  made  for  all  Scripture, 
as  it  is  written,  "  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration 
of  God  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for 
correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness :  that  the 
man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished 
unto  all  good  works."    (II  Timothy  3 :  16.) 

In  other  words,  there  can  be  no  picking  and  choos- 
ing from  among  the  Scriptures,  as  when  one  orders  a 
dinner  a  la  carte  saying,  ''  I  like  this  "  and  "  I  do  not 
care  for  that."  The  table  is  divinely  spread  and  all 
its  viands  are  nutritious;  not  all  alike  or  equally  so 
for  the  building  up  of  the  same  parts  and  processes 
of  life,  but  some  for  doctrine,  others  for  reproof  and 
correction,  still  others  for  instruction  in  righteousness ; 
none  being  without  its  distinct  and  definite  uses. 

The  words  quoted  from  II  Timothy  3  will  bear 
a  little  further  looking  into.  They  were  addressed  to 
the  young  pastor  of  the  Christian  Church  in  Ephesus. 
He  was  surrounded  by  divers  temptations.  Ephesus 
was  the  chief  emporium  for  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  trade  of  Asia ;  a  resort  for  fashionable  people  who 
wished  to  lose  themselves  in  the  whirl  of  vicious  in- 
dulgence ;  and  also  a  distinguished  seat  of  pagan  learn- 
ing. The  young  pastor  had,  therefore,  to  meet  all  the 
allurements  incident  to  the  prevalent  vogue  of  sordid 
business,  carnal  pleasure  and  worldly  wisdom.  But 
against  these  he  was  fortified  by  the  training  which 
he  had  received  not  merely  from  Paul,  his  spiritual 


20  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

foster-father,  but  from  his  mother  Eunice  and  from 
another  elect-lady,  his  grandmother  Lois.  By  these 
he  had  been  instructed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which 
are  able  to  make  men  wise  unto  salvation  and  to 
enhearten  them  for  the  stress  of  daily  life. 

In  this  letter  of  Paul's,  full  of  faithful  counsel  and 
admonition,  he  bade  the  young  minister  be  mindful 
of  those  rudiments  of  faith  and  morals  which  had 
thus  been  imparted  to  him :  "  Continue  thou  in  the 
things  which  thou  hast  learned  and  hast  been  assured 
of." 

How  many  a  youth  in  the  hurly-burly  of  metropoli- 
tan life  has  need  of  similar  counsel  in  these  days! 
Never  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  there  been  a 
time  when  the  young  and  unwary  were  confronted 
by  temptations  more  alluring  than  now.  The  Hfe  of 
commerce  makes  its  vociferous  claims;  the  life  of 
pleasure  beckons  from  doorways  and  windows  along 
the  way ;  and  presumptuous  Folly,  arrayed  in  the  garb 
of  Wisdom,  stands  at  the  corners  of  the  streets  crying 
aloud  that  the  old  truths  are  superannuated,  that  the 
Bible  is  untrustworthy,  that  religion  is  but  a  refined 
form  of  superstition  and  that  "  the  spirit  of  the  age  " 
is  more  important  than  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Now  let  the  hallowed  past  stand  forth  to  help  and 
strengthen!  Let  memory  recall  the  voice  of  the  dear 
mother  who,  as  Cowper  says,  "  just  knew,  and  knew 
no  more,  her  Bible  true !  "  Let  the  voice  of  the  vil- 
lage preacher,  far  away  in  the  glamour  of  the  van- 
ished past,  be  heard  again,  commending  the  Cross,  the 
old-fashioned  Book  and  the  precepts  of  a  holy  life ! 

O  men  and  women,  let  us  continue  in  the  things 


THE  CLAIM:  IS  IT  VERIFIED?  21 

which  we  have  learned  and  been  assured  of !  Why 
should  we  be  swept  from  our  moorings  by  every 
contrary  wind  of  destructive  teaching?  Let  us  stand 
by  our  principles,  if  we  have  any.  Let  us  hew  to  the 
line  of  our  convictions.  So  shall  the  truths  which  have 
commended  themselves  to  the  thoughtful  world  for 
centuries  be  ours,  to  serve  as  an  anchor  of  our  souls 
both  sure  and  steadfast,  taking  hold  of  that  which  is 
within  the  veil.  Unless  we  are  fully  persuaded  that 
our  forbears  were  simple  folk  and  that  the  Church  of 
the  centuries  has  been  imposed  on  by  a  system  of 
"  cunningly  devised  fables,"  it  behooves  us  to  respect 
the  ancient  landmarks  and,  chiefest  among  them,  the 
Bible.  To  abandon  that  is  to  be  without  an  anchor  in 
the  storm :  adrift  upon  an  open  sea. 

But  the  question  now  confronts  us,  Does  the  Book 
verify  its  claim  f 

Suppose  we  treat  that  question  precisely  as  if  it 
were  pending  in  a  court  of  justice.  The  evidence  is 
to  be  submitted  to  a  jury  of  fair-minded  men.  Two 
things  are  necessarily  assumed  at  the  outset.  One  is 
that  the  minds  of  these  jurymen  shall  be  clear  of 
prejudice.  Otherwise,  to  proceed  with  the  argument 
would  be  as  hopeless  as  was  Gahleo's  attempt  to  prove 
the  existence  of  the  moons  of  Jupiter  to  a  body  of 
inquisitors  who  refused  to  look  through  his  telescope 
for  fear  they  should  have  no  case  against  him. 

The  other  prerequisite  on  the  part  of  these  jurymen 
is  that  each  shall  do  his  own  thinking.  The  jury 
system  is  rightly  regarded  as  one  of  the  necessary 
pillars  of  any  Commonwealth  founded  on  the  rights 
of  man.     It  has  been   said   that   *'the   entire   Con- 


2^  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

stitution  of  England,  with  its  balances  and  complica- 
tions and  delicate  adjustments,  was  framed  for  the 
main  purpose  of  impanelling  twelve  honest  men  and 
true."  The  business  of  the  presiding  judge  is  to  hold 
the  balances  and  interpret  the  law.  The  attorneys  are 
in  honour  bound  to  argue  the  case  on  its  merits.  The 
witnesses  are  sworn  to  speak  "  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth."  And  the  twelve 
honest  men  and  true  are  enjoined  to  find  a  verdict  in 
accordance  with  the  law  and  evidence  bearing  on  the 
matter  in  hand.  The  ideal  is  perfect;  its  object  being 
to  secure  equal  and  impartial  justice  for  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men. 

In  practice,  however,  the  system  does  not  always 
attain  this  end.  It  frequently  happens  that  a  jury 
cannot  agree.  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  application  of  the  law  or  the  weight  of  evidence 
in  the  case.  The  foreman  advises  the  court  accord- 
ingly and  is  instructed  to  return  and  inform  his  asso- 
ciates that  they  must  agree.  Thereupon  the  majority 
argue  with  the  minority  and  perhaps  succeed  in  "  talk- 
ing them  around  " — all  but  one.  This  stubborn  fellow 
holds  out.  The  result  is  a  "  hung  jury  ";  and  the  case 
is  set  for  retrial  or  given  up. 

I  sing  the  praises  of  that  stubborn  man.  Many  a 
life,,  trembling  in  the  balance  has  been  saved  by  him. 
He  is  true  to  himself  and  to  the  right  of  the  matter, 
as  God  gives  him  to  see  it.  He  does  his  own  thinking ; 
declines  to  farm  out  his  brain  and  conscience  to  others. 
He  is  a  true  man,  an  independent  man,  a  necessary 
man,  a  mighty  man. 

His  value  has  been  approved  in  many  of  the  great 


THE  CLAIM:  IS  IT  VERIFIED?  23 

crises  of  history.  In  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
Church  a  man  of  this  character  was  needed  to  antag- 
onize the  false  teachers  who,  under  the  leadership  of 
Arius,  assailed  the  deity  of  Christ.  The  man  appeared 
in  the  person  of  Athanasius,  the  Bishop  of  Alexandria, 
who  was  repeatedly  exiled  and  ceaselessly  persecuted 
for  his  unswerving  devotion  to  reason  and  conscience. 
The  errorists  of  the  Church  were  against  him;  the 
influence  of  many  in  ecclesiastical  authority  was 
against  him;  the  power  of  the  Empire  was  against 
him.  On  being  advised  by  certain  of  his  friends  that 
"  the  world  was  against  him,"  he  made  the  memorable 
reply,  *'  Then  I  am  against  the  world ! "  Who  shall 
estimate  the  influence  of  that  lone  juryman?  The 
time-servers  who  weakened  are  forgotten;  but  Atha- 
nasius contra  mundum  is  immortalized  in  the  poetic 
justice  of  history.  His  monument  is  the  Athanasian 
Creed,  in  which  millions  of  Christians  pay  tribute  to 
the  heroism  of  one  who  would  not  "  bow  the  pregnant 
hinges  of  his  knees  that  thrift  might  follow  fawning." 
All  honour  to  such  men ! 

There  has  never  been  a  time  when  the  call  for  such 
independent  thinkers  was  louder  than  just  now.  This 
is  true  not  only  in  social  and  political  affairs  but 
pre-eminently  in  the  province  of  religion.  And  back 
of  all  religious  problems  in  this  province  is  that  of 
Biblical  authority:  because  if  the  Scriptures  are  not 
reliable  we  have  absolutely  no  ultimate  standard  by 
which  to  determine  the  truth  or  falsity  of  any  re- 
ligious thesis. 

What  we  want,  then,  for  the  business  immediately 
in  hand,  is  a  panel  of  unbiased  and  independent  jury- 


S4  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

men.  In  other  words,  they  must  be  "  honest 
doubters." 

Let  there  be  no  mistake  at  this  point,  however;  for 
many  a  man  who  thinks  himself  an  honest  doubter  is 
in  fact  a  confirmed  and  stubborri  unbeliever.  It  has 
been  said  that  "  doubt  is  either  the  agony  of  a  noble 
soul  or  the  frivolity  of  a  fool."  An  honest  doubter  is 
one  who,  realizing  the  importance  of  a  right  settle- 
ment of  an  important  issue,  rests  not  day  nor  night 
until  he  arrives  at  the  truth  concerning  it.  He  puts 
away  all  preconceptions  and,  with  a  clear  conscience 
and  a  single  purpose,  addresses  himself  to  the  problem 
before  him. 

Is  the  reader  thus  prepared  to  canvass  the  evidence  ? 
Is  his  mind  free  from  bias  and  open  to  conviction? 
If  not,  he  is  peremptorily  challenged;  because  no 
amount  of  argument  based  on  facts  can  enable  him  to 
pass  an  honest  judgment  upon  the  merits  of  the  case. 
If,  however,  he  is  sure  of  his  unbiased  sincerity  in  the 
serious  quest  of  truth,  he  is  competent  to  hear  the 
evidence  and  pass  upon  it. 

One  of  the  great  discourses  of  Christ,  in  which  he 
stated  the  authority  of  his  teaching,  is  recorded  in  the 
seventh  chapter  of  John.  He  was  speaking  in  the 
Porch  of  the  Temple  to  a  company  of  people  who  were 
divided  in  their  opinion  concerning  him.  There  were 
some  who  believed  that  his  teaching  was  true  and  that 
he  was  what  he  claimed  to  be.  There  were  others, 
including  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  were  so 
opposed  to  him  that  they  were  even  then  plotting  to 
kill  him.  The  Teacher  himself  put  the  case  calmly 
and  dispassionately  before  them  on  this  wise :  '*  If  any 


THE  CLAIM:  IS  IT  VERIFIED?         25 

man  willeth  to  do  His  will,  he  shall  know  of  the 
teaching,  whether  it  is  of  God." 

Are  we  thus  willing  to  follow  the  direction  of  the 
divine  will  in  order  that  we  know  whether  the  teach- 
ing is  of  God  ?  If  so,  we  may  proceed  with  the  hear- 
ing of  the  case;  otherwise  we  might  as  well  call  a 
halt  here  and  now ;  because  *'  a  man  convinced  against 
his  will  is  of  the  same  opinion  still." 


Ill 

AN  UNACCOUNTABLE  UNITY 

IT  is  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  account  for  the 
singular  unity  of  the  Scriptures  without  according 
to  them  a  divine  origin. 

Here  is  a  volume  made  up  of  sixty-six  books,  on 
a  large  variety  of  themes,  composed  by  forty  odd 
writers  of  various  tongues  and  nationalities,  writing 
at  intervals  along  a  period  of  sixteen  hundred  years 
and  representing  all  degrees  of  racial  development 
from  semi-barbarism  to  the  highest  degree  of  culture ; 
yet,  strange  to  tell,  these  sixty-six  books  when  bound 
togther  constitute  a  harmonious  and  consistent  whole ; 
yielding  one  system  of  doctrine,  one  code  of  ethics 
and,  thus,  one  *'  rule  of  faith  and  practice  "  for  all 
the  children  of  men. 

Shall  we  call  this  a  fortuitous  circumstance?  The 
folly  of  such  a  statement  would  immediately  be  rec- 
ognized in  any  other  province.  If  forty  odd  persons 
of  different  tongues  and  degrees  of  musical  educa- 
tion were  to  pass  through  the  organ-loft  of  a  church 
at  long  intervals  and,  without  any  possibility  of  col- 
lusion, strike  sixty-six  notes  which,  when  combined, 
should  yield  the  theme  of  an  oratorio,  it  is  respect- 
fully submitted  that  the  man  who  regarded  that  as 
**  a  fortuitous  circumstance ''  would  by  universal 
consent  be  regarded  as — to  put  it  mildly — sadly  defi- 


AN  UNACCOUNTABLE  UNITY  27 

cient  in  common  sense.  The  conclusion  from  such  a 
harmonious  combination  would  be  irresistible,  namely, 
that  one  controlling  mind,  and  that  of  a  great  tone- 
master,  was  behind  it. 

The  Bible  is  in  two  volumes.  The  first  of  these  is 
called  the  Old  Testament  and  the  second  the  New. 
In  certain  quarters  there  is  a  disposition  to  accept  the 
latter  while  practically  rejecting  the  former  as  having 
little  or  no  value  for  modern  readers.  Not  long  ago, 
in  a  convention  of  Sunday-school  teachers,  a  clergy- 
man is  reported  to  have  said :  *'  The  Old  Testament 
is  out  of  date:  let  me  have  a  few  of  the  Psalms  and 
a  chapter  or  two  of  Isaiah  and  I  have  no  further  use 
for  it."  There  are  not  many  ministers  or  laymen, 
probably,  who  would  be  willing  to  speak  so  frankly; 
but  an  impression  of  this  sort  has  gone  abroad,  and 
the  consequent  neglect  of  the  Old  Testament  is  so 
prevalent  that  a  consideration  of  the  subject  in  this 
connection  may  not  be  unprofitable  for  us. 

Let  us  affirm,  therefore,  that  the  Old  Testament  is 
not  only  an  essential  and  inseparable  part  of  the 
Bible  but  that  it  perfectly  accords  and  symphonizes 
with  the  New  Testament.  The  plot  of  a  connected 
story  runs  through  both  volumes,  to  wit,  the  story  of 
the  Cross:  and  so  connectedly  that  no  coherent  or 
consecutive  view  of  the  divine  plan  of  salvation  can 
be  gained  without  an  understanding  of  both.  The 
New  Testament  is  woven  into  the  Old  Testament  like 
the  warp  of  a  fabric  into  its  woof:  or,  to  use  the 
words  of  Augustine,  "  The  New  Testament  is  en- 
folded in  the  Old  and  the  Old  Testament  is  unfolded 
in  the  New." 


28  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

The  sum  and  substance  of  both  volumes  is  briefly 
comprehended  in  the  saying,  *'  God  so  loved  the 
vi^orld  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  that  who- 
soever believeth  in  him  should  not  perish  but  have 
everlasting  life." 

The  story  opens  at  the  gateway  of  Paradise  where, 
at  the  moment  when  our  first  parents  sinned  against 
God,  the  protevangel  was  given,  "  The  Seed  of 
woman  shall  come  in  the  fulness  of  time  to  bruise  the 
serpent's  head."  The  red  trail  of  the  atoning  blood 
can  be  traced  thenceforth  through  all  the  pages  of  the 
Book.  The  plot  thickens,  as  we  read  on  and  on, 
through  Chronicle  and  Psalm  and  Prophecy,  until, 
with  Israel's  abandonment  of  the  Messianic  hope,  the 
lights  in  the  Temple  go  out  and  the  darkness  deepens 
into  an  Egyptian  night  of  four  hundred  years — a  night 
which  is  broken  at  length  by  the  shining  of  the  Star 
of  Bethlehem  and  the  angels'  song,  *'  Glory  to  God 
in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men ! " 

By  this  it  is  evident  that  the  worthies  of  the  olden 
time  were  saved  precisely  as  we  are.  The  Old  Testa- 
ment, known  as  The  Book  of  the  Law,  was  a  "  school- 
master to  lead  them  to  Christ."  The  first  sinner 
had  a  foregleam  of  the  Saviour.  The  patriarchs 
'*  rejoiced  to  see  his  day."  The  faithful  who  gath- 
ered about  the  brazen  altar  were  sufficiently  initiated 
into  the  mystery  of  the  sacrificial  Lamb  of  God. 
Such  ancients  as  Abraham  and  David  and  Isaiah  were 
Christians  as  really  as  we  are;  only  they  looked  for- 
ward to  the  sacrifice  while  we  look  backward  to  it 
as  an  accomplished  fact. 

The  first  volume  of  the  Book  is,  indeed,  a  neces- 


AN  UNACCOUNTABLE  UNITY  29 

sary  key  to  the  second.  How  shall  we  understand 
the  words :  '*  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,"  unless  we 
are  familiar  with  the  tragic  incident  of  the  Passover 
and  the  prophetic  ritual  of  the  altar?  How  shall  we 
comprehend  the  saying  of  Jesus  to  Nicodemus :  "  As 
Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even 
so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up,  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  him  should  not  perish  but  have 
eternal  life  "  unless,  like  Nicodemus,  we  are  familiar 
with  the  story  of  Ezion-Geber?  Thus  in  order  to 
enter  the  Holy  of  Holies  we  must  pass  through  the 
outer  court. 

The  Gospel  in  the  New  Testament  glows  with  the 
light  of  "  the  most  excellent  glory "  that  shone 
above  the  Tabernacle  of  the  Old.  The  mercy  seat  is 
sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  Calvary  and  the  open 
sepulchre  in  Joseph's  garden  echoes  with  ancient 
prophecies  of  life  and  immortality  brought  to  light. 
The  importance  of  studying  the  Old  Testament  is 
obvious,  therefore,  if  we  would  understand  the  full, 
broad,  glorious  significance  of  the  divine  plan  of  sal- 
vation from  the  penalty  and  power  of  sin. 

As  there  is  only  one  God  so  there  is  only  one    \ 
authoritative  Book  of  God ;  and  the  Bible  is  that  one.     / 
Its  parts  all  hold  together  as  a  coherent  and  con-  / 
sistent  though  complex  unit:  all  alike  being  inspired / 
and  profitable  for  the  making  of  a  man. 

It  is  not  meant  by  this,  however,  that  all  portions   ^. 
of  the  Book  are  equally  profitable.     The  law  with 
respect  to  the  robbing  of  a  bird's  nest  is  obviously  not 
so  important  as  the  precept,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill." 
It  is  not  so  essential  that  we  should  familiarize  our- 


30  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

selves  with  the  catalogue  of  names  in  Genesis  K 
though  in  point  of  fact  this  furnishes  the  basis  of 
ethnological  science — as  that  we  should  know  the 
riches  of  divine  grace.  But  there  is  a  good  and  suf- 
ficient reason  for  every  portion  of  it.  Not  a  chapter 
is  negligible  or  dispensable. 

It  is  true  also  that  much  of  the  Bible  is  not  designed 
to  be  read  in  the  public  services  of  the  sanctuary  or 
even  at  the  family  altar.  In  a  book  intended  to  touch 
life  at  every  point  in  its  circumference  there  must 
needs  be  many  passages  fit  only  for  conference  be- 
twixt a  man  and  God  alone :  unveilings  of  carnal  rot- 
tenness in  the  secret  imaginations  of  the  heart ;  flashes 
of  a  two-edged  sword  that  cuts  to  the  very  dividing 
of  the  bones  and  marrow.  These  are  to  be  read  only 
in  those  private  chambers  where  the  soul  sits  bare 
and  naked  before  God. 

But  the  supremely  important  point  to  remember  in 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures  is  that  their  nexus  is  the 
divine  plan  of  salvation.  Omit  that  and  the  whole 
fabric  is  reduced  to  threads  and  thrums.  It  is  only 
with  the  Cross  as  our  golden  key  that  we  so  enter  the 
Book  as  to  perceive  not  only  the  unity  of  its  various 
parts  but  the  profitableness  of  every  part  for  some 
of  the  diverse  uses  of  life.  All  Scripture  is  thus  seen 
to  be  contributary  to  the  far-reaching  purpose  of  God 
in  our  redemption  and  building  up  unto  the  measure 
of  the  fulness  of  the  stature  of  a  man. 


IV 
ITS  COMPLETENESS 

THE  Bible  is  a  comprehensive  summary  of  all 
spiritual  truth,  so  far  forth  as  a  knowledge  of 
spiritual  truth  is  necessary  to  our  temporal 
and  eternal  well-being.  It  is  so  characterized  by  Paul 
in  one  of  his  letters  to  Timothy,  where  he  says 
"  Abide  thou  in  the  things  which  thou  hast  learned 
and  hast  been  assured  of,  knowing  of  whom  thou 
hast  learned  them,  and  that  from  a  babe  thou  hast 
known  the  Sacred  Writings,  which  are  able  to  make 
thee  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Every  Scripture  inspired  of  God  is 
profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for 
instruction  which  is  in  righteousness;  that  the  man 
of  God  may  be  complete,  furnished  completely  unto 
every  good  work."  (R.  V.) 

It  thus  appears  that,  in  the  opinion  of  Paul  at 
least,  all  spiritual  truth,  so  far  as  needed  for  our 
guidance,  is  summarized  in  the  Scriptures.  This  fact 
is  worthy  of  emphasis  in  view  of  what  is  being  said 
about  "  progressive  revelation." 

Do  we  affirm,  then,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
progress  in  the  understanding  of  truth?  By  no 
means !  But  we  do  insist  that  all  progress  in  spiritual 
knowledge  is  within  the  circumscription  of  this  Book ; 
as  John  Robinson  said,  when  bidding  farewell  to  the 

31 


32  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

Pilgrims  who  were  embarking  at  Delft  Haven :  *'  I 
pray  you  to  remember  that  new  light  will  be  ever 
breaking  forth  from  the  Word  of  God !  "  New  light, 
ever;  but  no  new  Sun  of  Righteousness.  It  is  a  sin- 
gular fact  that,  despite  the  philosophic  research  of 
centuries,  no  truth  within  the  province  of  spiritual 
things  has  ever  been  discovered  beyond  the  bound- 
aries of  Scripture:  by  which  it  would  appear  that 
Scripture  contains  the  ultimate  and  adequate  sum 
total  required  for  the  supply  of  human  need.  There 
are  no  limitations  in  God  but  there  is  a  definite  limit 
to  our  knowledge  of  him. 

As  there  is  no  new  force  in  the  material  universe, 
though  there  is  no  end  of  new  adjustments  and  ap- 
plications of  force,  so  while  there  are  no  new  prin- 
ciples in  the  spiritual  province,  there  are  continually 
new  interpretations  and  larger  uses  of  them.  The 
sun,  which  is  our  source  of  light  and  energy,  is  not 
changed  to  meet  the  demands  of  a  progressive  world 
though  there  are  many  *'new  things  under  the  sun." 
The  Bible,  in  like  manner,  though  closed  and  finally 
sealed  long  centuries  ago,  was  divinely  adjusted  to 
the  progress  of  all  succeeding  ages. 

The  uninspired  word  "  Finis  "  on  the  last  page  of 
the  Bible  is  as  true  as  though  it  were  incorporated  in 
it.  The  meaning  of  that  word  is  that  the  revelation 
of  truth  contained  therein  is  so  comprehensive  that 
there  would  never  be  need  of  an  addendum.  It  stands 
like  a  challenge  to  the  progress  of  the  future,  saying, 
"  Supplant  me  or  supplement  me  if  you  can ! " 

The  last  words  of  the  last  chapter  of  the  last  por- 
tion of  Scripture  are  significant ;  *'  I  testify  unto  every 


ITS  COMPLETENESS  33 

man  that  heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecies  (i.e., 
teachings)  of  this  Book;  If  any  man  shall  add  unto 
them,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  which  are 
written  in  this  Book ;  and  if  any  man  shall  take  away 
from  the  words  of  the  Book  of  this  prophecy,  God 
shall  take  away  his  part  from  the  tree  of  life  and  out 
of  the  holy  city  which  are  written  in  this  Book." 

I  am  not  unaware  that  those  who  deny  the  integrity 
of  the  Scriptures  are  accustomed  to  say  that  the 
warning  referred  to  was  intended  to  apply  only  to 
that  particular  portion  of  Scripture  which  contains 
it,  namely  "  the  Book  of  the  Revelation  of  John." 
But  this  does  not  relieve  the  situation,  for  two  rea- 
sons: first,  because  it  is  not  easy  to  perceive  the 
grounds  upon  which  this  limitation  is  based  or  how 
its  originators  discovered  it;  and  second,  because, 
even  granting  it,  they  would  probably  be  as  reluctant 
(putting  it  mildly)  to  consent  to  the  full  inspiration 
and  trustworthiness  of  John's  account  of  his  apoca- 
lyptic visions  as  of  any  other  portion  of  the  Book. 
The  only  escape  from  the  dilemma  on  their  part  is 
to  deny  the  singular  truth  of  the  Scriptures  in  toto: 
which,  frankly  stated,  is  precisely  what  they  do. 

At  this  point  attention  is  called  to  a  fact  which  is 
difficult  of  explanation  on  the  part  of  those  so-called 
"  Biblical  experts  "  who  deny — and  not  infrequently 
deride — the  plenary  and  inerrant  inspiration  of  the 
original  autographs  of  Scripture,  The  business  of 
textual  criticism  is  to  purge  all  current  versions  of 
unwarranted  changes  and  additions  by  careful  and 
scholarly  comparison  with  the  earliest  manuscripts,  so 
as  to  arrive,  as  nearly  as  possible,  at  the  original  text. 


34*  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

But  why  so?  If  this  Book  is  to  be  classed  as  ''  mere 
literature  "  and  treated  accordingly,  why  not  seek  for 
the  latest  instead  of  the  first  edition  ?  The  text  books 
in  use  when  we  were  children  at  school  are  all  obso- 
lete. Such  as  are  now  being  studied  by  our  boys  and 
girls  must  presently  be  revised  and  ''  brought  up  to 
date."  The  last  editions  are  required  in  every  case. 
Why,  then,  should  the  first  edition  of  the  Scriptures 
be  in  such  universal  demand  ?  Is  not  this  a  practical 
concession  that  the  original  manuscript  of  Scripture, 
if  found,  would  prove  to  be  the  highest  authority  in 
spiritual  things  for  this  and  every  age?  In  other 
words,  marvellous  to  tell,  the  Bible,  written  so  many 
centuries  ago,  must  have  been  intended  to  abide 
through  all  generations  as  an  unalterable  Book;  and 
this  because  it  is  full  and  complete,  measuring  out  to 
the  entire  race  its  supply  for  all  moral  needs  from 
the  beginning  to  the  very  end  of  time. 


ITS  SUFFICIENCY 

THE  Bible  would  not  be  a  complete  book  did  it 
not  supply  all  the  moral  and  spiritual  needs  of 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men. 

Does  it  meet  that  requirement? 

In  the  so-called  **  parable "  of  Dives  and  Lazarus 
we  are  given  to  understand  that  our  Lord  thought 
so.  It  runs  on  this  wise :  In  a  certain  town  there  lived 
six  brothers,  all  eminently  respectable  men.  They 
obeyed  the  laws,  paid  their  honest  debts  and  minded 
their  own  affairs.  As  to  spiritual  things  they  were 
non-committal;  why  should  they  trouble  themselves 
about  God  and  the  future  when  they  were  so  com- 
fortable in  the  enjoyment  of  the  world  here  and  now? 
The  worst  that  could  be  said  of  them  was  that  they 
were  living  a  self-centred  life.  But  that  was  bad 
enough,  as  we  shall  see. 

One  of  these  brothers  had  a  luxurious  home  where, 
clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  he  fared  sumptuously 
every  day.  The  fact  that  a  certain  beggar,  sick  and 
forlorn,  was  accustomed  to  sit  before  his  gate  may 
have  annoyed  him;  but  he  satisfied  his  conscience  by 
giving  the  poor  fellow  the  crumbs  that  fell  from 
his  table.  He  probably  felt  that  he  was  magnanimous 
in  not  ordering  him  off  the  premises. 

Now  it  came  to  pass,  '^  ^'  e  course  of  events,  that 
35 


36  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

the  beggar  died — as  all  beggars  do — and  being  a 
worthy  man,  in  spite  of  his  poverty  he  went  to 
heaven.  He  was  there  received  into  that  innermost 
place  of  happiness  which  the  rabbis  were  accustomed 
to  call  "  Abraham's  bosom/'  a  term  borrowed  from 
the  custom  of  reclining  on  couches  at  banquets.  By 
this  we  are  given  to  understand  that  his  faithfulness 
admitted  him  to  the  near  presence  of  the  father  of 
the  faithful,  where  a  feast  of  spiritual  viands  was 
spread  before  him. 

And  then  it  came  to  pass,  in  the  course  of  events, 
that  "the  rich  man  also  died."  What?  Yes,  they 
all  do.  He  died  *'and  was  buried."  No  doubt  he 
had  an  imposing  funeral  and  his  virtues  were  com- 
memorated in  a  glowing  epitaph.  What  then?  He 
"  went  to  his  own  place."  Where  else  could  he  go 
but  to  the  place  for  which  his  character  had  fitted 
him?  That  place  is  called  Sheol  in  the  Hebrew,  and 
in  our  translation  by  a  word  not  to  be  mentioned  in 
ears  polite;  yet  Christ  used  it  without  mouthing  or 
mumbling.  It  is  the  place  appointed  for  all  sordid 
and  selfish  souls  who  live  for  self  and  die  without 
God. 

The  two  places  thus  designated  were  far  apart; 
yet  the  distance  could  not  be  measured  in  terms  of 
space;  for  the  rich  man  in  hell  could  see  what  was 
transpiring  in  heaven  and  was  within  hailing  distance 
of  it.  Shall  we  wonder  at  this  ?  Did  you  never  know 
a  husband  and  wife  who,  living  under  the  same  roof, 
were  yet  infinitely  separated  from  each  other  by  the 
fact  that  they  were  hopelessly  at  odds  concerning 
vital  things?     So  here,  the  rich  man  is  represented 


ITS  SUFFICIENCY  37 

as  holding  a  conversation  with  Abraham,  though  he 
could  not  approach  him. 

.Let  it  be  observed  that  in  this  colloquy  he  makes  no 
complaint  with  respect  to  his  own  condition  in  the 
final  adjustment  of  things.  He  was  doubtless  aware 
of  the  saying,  "  As  a  man  soweth,  so  also  shall  he 
reap,"  and  apparently  he  recognized  the  fact  that  jus- 
tice was  being  meted  out  to  him. 

But  he  had  a  request  to  make,  namely,  that  Lazarus 
might  be  sent,  with  a  finger  dipped  in  that  River  of 
Life  which  flows  through  the  midst  of  heaven,  to  cool 
his  tongue  which  was  burning  with  thirst,  the  consum- 
ing thirst  of  vain  regret  for  opportunities  unheeded 
and  gone  by. 

To  grant  that  request  was  impossible  in  the  nature 
of  the  case.  The  water  which  he  craved  was  not 
among  the  '*  good  things  "  which  he  had  chosen  and 
enjoyed  in  his  lifetime.  What  he  now  really  wanted 
was  not  a  draught  of  the  water  of  life  but  of  Lethe, 
the  river  of  forgetfulness.  Alas,  he  could  not  forget. 
"  Son,  remember !  "  The  Persians  have  a  proverb, 
"  The  remembrances  of  past  happiness  are  the  wrin- 
kles of  the  soul."  What  shall  be  said,  then,  of  the 
remembrances  of  past  privilege  and  lost  opportunity? 

"  And  besides  this,"  said  Abraham,  "  between  us 
and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed,  so  that  there  can 
be  no  passing  to  and  fro."  Who  fixed  that  gulf? 
Not  God;  for  it  is  written  that  the  twelve  gates  of 
his  heaven  are  wide  open  forever.  Why,  then,  does 
not  this  rich  man  pass  in?  For  the  same  reason  that 
so  many  homeless,  friendless,  cheerless  folk  pass  by 
our    church    doors   without    a    thought    of    entering. 


38  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

However  disconsolate  their  condition  in  the  outer 
darkness,  they  are  more  comfortable  there  than  they 
would  be  in  a  praying,  psalm-singing  company  like 
ours.  So  with  the  rich  man  in  the  parable:  nothing 
but  his  own  choosing  excludes  him  from  the  fellow- 
ship of  saints.  He  hears  them  singing  over  yonder, 
"  Holy,  holy.  Lord  God  Almighty  ";  but  to  dwell  amid 
the  praises  of  a  holy  God  would  be  torture  to  him.  He 
hears  them  praising  the  Saviour  in  such  glowing  terms 
as  these :  "  Worthy  art  thou  to  receive  honour  and 
glory  and  power  and  dominion  for  thou  hast  washed 
our  robes  and  made  them  white  " ;  but  what  cares  he 
for  Christ  or  for  the  righteousness  of  saints?  He 
sees  them  going  on  their  Lord's  errands  as  minister- 
ing spirits;  but  he  has  never  learned  the  generous 
pleasure  of  kindly  deeds.  Oh,  no ;  heaven  would  have 
been  a  more  insufferable  place  than  hell  for  one 
whose  life  of  self-pleasing  had  so  utterly  disqualified 
him  for  it.  He  was  thirsty,  but  not  for  water  like 
that.  He  was  unhappy,  but  not  with  any  longing  for 
the  felicity  of  saints.  What  he  wanted  was  not  a 
change  of  character  but  merely  a  surcease  of  pain. 
His  choice  had  been  made  in  his  earthly  life  and  was 
still  made.  He  would  not  choose  otherwise.  The 
gulf  was  fixed  and  he  himself  had  fixed  it.  His  char- 
acter had  been  crystallized  by  death ;  which  is  the  end 
of  probation;  for  so  it  is  written,  "  He  that  is  unjust 
let  him  be  unjust  still  and  he  that  is  holy  let  him  be 
holy  still."     And  what  could  change  it? 

He  had,  however,  another  request  to  make :  "  I 
pray  thee,  father,  that  thou  wouldst  send  Lazarus  to 
my  father's  house;  for  I  have  five  brethren!  that  he 


ITS  SUFFICIENCY  39 

may  testify  unto  them  lest  they  also  come  into  this 
place  of  torment."  By  this  we  are  given  to  under- 
stand that  his  brothers  were  still  living  in  the  selfish 
enjoyment  of  wealth  and  sensual  comfort  and  with- 
out troublesome  thoughts  of  death  or  of  that  which 
follows  it.  There  is  an  intimation  in  this  request 
that,  in  the  opinion  of  Dives,  they  were  not  having 
a  fair  chance.  It  is  as  if  he  said  "  My  brothers  do 
not  know!  If  they  were  sufficiently  informed  as  to 
the  reality  of  eternal  things  they  would  surely  change 
their  manner  of  life." 

But  would  they?  Now  mark  the  answer;  for  here 
is  where  the  sufficiency  of  Scripture  comes  in.  The 
answer  was,  "'  They  have  Moses  and  the  Prophets; 
let  them  hear  them!' 

The  term  "  Moses  and  the  Prophets  "  was  one  of 
the  current  phrases  used  to  designate  the  Scriptures. 
The  intimation  is  that  these  brothers  had  in  the  Bible 
all  the  light  that  was  necessary  for  their  guidance 
and  admonition,  however  they  might  persist  in  run- 
ning on  the  bosses  of  the  shield  of  God. 

At  this  point  the  rich  man  remonstrates :  "  Nay, 
father  Abraham ;  but  if  one  went  unto  them  from  the 
dead  they  would  repent."  This  sounds  reasonable; 
but  in  point  of  fact  there  was  nothing  in  it.  The  time 
came  when  one  did  actually  rise  from  the  dead — when 
Christ  himself,  w^ho  had  been  crucified  before  their 
eyes,  came  forth  from  his  sepulchre,  as  was  certified 
by  "  above  five  hundred  who  saw  him  at  once," — and 
still  we  are  left  to  believe  that  they  were  unconvinced 
and  went  living  right  on  in  the  same  way. 

So  comes  the  final  word :  ''  If  they  hear  not  Moses 


40  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

and  the  Prophets,  neither  will  they  be  persuaded 
though  one  rose  from  the  dead."  Here  is  the  cli- 
macteric of  the  Parable.  It  has  pleased  God  to  re- 
veal himself  in  the  Scriptures  as  a  God  of  infinite  jus- 
tice and  infinite  love.  He  has  made  himself  known 
in  this  manner  so  that  sinners  might  repent  and  seek 
salvation.  In  this  Book  the  plan  of  salvation  is  made 
perfectly  clear.  All  that  need  be  known  is  here  made 
known;  so  that  any  man,  with  the  Bible  in  his  hand, 
though  his  sins  are  as  scarlet,  may  set  himself  right 
with  God. 

Let  it  be  observed  in  this  connection  that  Abraham 
himself  had  no  Bible.  The  divine  will  was  communi- 
cated to  him  in  dreams  and  visions  and  angel  visits. 
He  was  born  a  pagan,  the  son  of  an  idol-maker,  and 
was  taught  to  bow  before  gods  of  wood  and  stone. 
But  the  time  came  when  he  heard  a  Voice,  calling 
him  to  ''  leave  his  father's  house  and  go  forth  into  a 
country  that  he  knew  not " ;  and  he  followed  that 
Voice.  He  lived  up  to  the  full  measure  of  his  light; 
and  in  the  light  thus  given  he  read  the  Gospel:  as 
Jesus  said  "  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  day;  and  he 
saw  it  and  was  glad."  He  was  thus  saved — a  pagan 
born,  two  thousand  years  before  the  Advent — by 
faith  precisely  like  ours  in  the  Christ  who  said,  "  I 
am  the  Way;  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but 
by  me." 

Observe,  again,  that  the  five  brothers  referred  to 
had  the  Bible.  True,  it  was  only  the  Old  Testament; 
but  that  was  enough  for  what  was  required  of  them. 
It  contained  the  Law,  and  "he  that  keepeth  the  law 
shall  live  by  it."     But  suppose  they  broke  the  law? 


ITS  SUFFICIENCY  41 

Then  they  had  the  Gospel  in  the  prophecies;  for  the 
Prophets  all  conspired  to  speak  of  Christ,  who  in  the 
fulness  of  time  was  to  be  ''  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions and  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  that  by  his 
stripes  we  might  be  healed."  The  Gospel  is  recorded 
in  the  Old  Testament  as  really  as  in  the  New.  The 
tragedy  of  Calvary  runs  through  it  like  a  scarlet 
thread.  The  birth,  life,  character,  vicarious  death 
and  resurrection  of  Jesus  are  there  so  plain  that  he 
who  runs  may  read.  Wherefore  the  five  brothers 
were  without  excuse  if  they  did  not  believe  in  him. 

But  how  about  us?  We  have  the  voice  of  nature, 
as  the  heathen  have  it,  "the  invisible  things  of  God 
being  clearly  seen  and  understood  by  the  things  that 
are  made  " ;  so  that  we  are  "  without  excuse."  We 
have  the  Voice  that  speaks  from  heaven,  as  Abraham 
heard  it;  and  if  we  refuse  to  hear  the  Voice  of  the 
Spirit  or  fail  to  live  up  to  this  measure  of  our  light 
we  are  again  "  without  excuse."  We  have  the  Old 
Testament  with  its  Messianic  prophecies  and  the  New 
Testament  with  its  Evangelists  pointing  to  Christ 
and  showing  how  all  those  prophecies  were  fulfilled 
in  him;  wherefore,  again  and  most  obviously,  we  are 
"  without  excuse."  We  have,  in  addition  to  all  this, 
the  record  of  nineteen  centuries  of  Christian  progress, 
in  which  the  majestic  figure  of  Christ  is  seen  in  the 
forefront  of  all  the  great  enterprises  of  civilization 
transforming  the  home,  the  workshop,  society  and 
government,  and  ever  enlarging  and  extending  the 
borders  of  Christendom  with  a  sure  promise  of  ulti- 
mately bringing  in  the  Golden  Age.  What  more  could 
we  ask?    Or  how  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so 


n  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

great  salvation?  Will  not  the  five  brothers  of  Dives 
rise  up  against  us  in  judgment  should  we  sin  against 
our  noonday  sun  ?  Alas,  "  this  is  the  condemnation, 
that  light  is  come  into  the  vi^orld  and  men  love  dark- 
ness rather  than  light !  " 

Is  it  to  be  imagined  that  if  one  rose  from  the  dead 
to  admonish  us  the  result  would  be  different?  If 
Christ  himself  were  to  appear  at  this  moment,  with 
the  glory  of  the  resurrection  shining  in  his  face  and 
a  troop  of  archangels  following  him,  would  that  con- 
vince the  unconvinced?  The  chances  are  they  would 
regard  it  as  a  hallucination.  The  light  might  dazzle, 
bewilder,  affrighten;  but  surely  it  would  not  remove 
the  unbelief  of  any  who  refuse  to  accept  the  testimony 
of  the  authoritative  Word  of  God. 


VI 

ITS  LITERARY  VALUE 

THERE  are  those  who  say  that  the  Bible  is 
mere  "  literature  "  and  must  therefore  be  sub- 
ject to  the  common  canons  of  criticism.  For 
the  sake  of  the  argument  let  us  concede  this.  Waiv- 
ing the  fact  that,  unlike  all  other  literature,  it  is  di- 
vinely inspired,  let  us  proceed  to  scrutinize  its  char- 
acter as  a  mere  book  among  books. 

And  here,  as  in  our  last  chapter,  we  shall  be 
helped  by  a  consideration  of  one  of  our  Lord's  para- 
bles, to  wit,  the  brief  Parable  of  the  Householder  and 
his  Treasury.  It  is  recorded  in  Matthew  13 :  52  ; 
""  Therefore  every  scribe  who  is  instructed  unto  the 
Kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  an  householder  who 
bringeth  forth  out  of  his  treasure  things  new  and 
oldr 

A  traveller  is  here  represented  as  coming  to  an 
Oriental  home  at  eventide  for  entertainment.  His 
host,  desirous  of  showing  his  importance,  brings  out 
his  treasures  and  spreads  them  before  him.  There 
were  no  banks  or  other  places  of  safe  deposit  in  those 
days.  One's  wealth  must  be  buried  in  the  ground  or 
kept  in  a  recess  in  the  wall.  The  householder  goes 
to  his  treasury  accordingly  and  brings  out  things  new 
and  old;  antique  coins;  necklaces  worn  by  princes  of 
long  ago;  golden  shields  bearing  the  dint  of  old-time 

43 


44  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

battles;  precious  stones  plucked  from  the  crowns  of 
captive  kings;  the  loot  of  the  campaigns  of  ages.  All 
these  are  spread  before  the  eyes  of  his  wojidering 
guest. 

Now,  says  Jesus,  the  scribe  is  a  custodian  of  the 
Oracles  of  God.  The  key  is  at  his  girdle.  His  busi- 
ness is  to  bring  forth  the  wealth  of  Scripture,  new 
truths  and  old,  to  dazzle  and  enchant  the  beholder's 
eyes. 

There  is  a  select  coterie  of  scribes  in  our  time  who 
arrogate  to  themselves  the  title  of  "  Biblical  Ex- 
perts " :  and  they  will  brook  no  trespassing  on  their 
prerogative.  Over  the  gateway  of  the  Scriptures  they 
have  placed  the  caveat, 

''  N.  B.    No  thoroughfare. 

This  preserve  is  for  the  use  of  duly  accredited 
Scholars.  Ministers  and  laymen  alike  are  warned  off. 
By  order  of 

The  Erudite  Junto.'* 

But  ministers  and  laymen  are  not  to  be  frightened 
so  easily.  They  insist  upon  the  right  of  personal 
judgment  in  these  premises.  The  words  of  Jesus 
"  Search  the  Scriptures  "  were  not  addressed  to  any 
pedagogic  clique  but  to  the  people  all  and  several. 
The  search-warrant  is  in  the  hands  of  every  man. 

A  Biblical  critic  is,  to  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  as 
an  apothecary's  apprentice  to  a  physician.  The 
'prentice  makes  the  pills  and  lotions,  knows  their  con- 
stituent parts,  and  possibly  feels  himself  a  master  of 
the  Materia  Medica ;  but  it  will  probably  be  conceded 
that  the  physician,  whose  business  is  not  merely  to 
know  what  pills  and  lotions  are  made  of  but  how  to 


ITS  LITERARY  VALUE  45 

apply  them  to  the  necessities  of  physical  life,  is  some- 
what the  wiser  of  the  two.  Certainly  the  young 
knight  of  the  pestle  has  his  place,  but  in  the  practical 
uses  of  the  pharmacopoeia  the  practising  physician  is 
master  of  the  situation. 

So  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  despite  the  admonition 
of  the  Erudite  Junto,  must  insist  upon  his  preroga- 
tive in  the  exposition  of  the  word.  It  is  his  place  to 
know  not  merely  those  Scriptural  infinitesimals,  the 
jots  and  tittles,  which  men  discover  with  microscopes, 
but  to  know  what  the  Scriptures  are  good  for.  It  is 
claimed,  therefore,  in  behalf  of  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel, that  they  are  quite  competent  to  speak  advisedly 
regarding  the  composition  of  the  Scriptures  and  their 
uses. 

But  when  it  comes  to  the  literary  value  of  the 
Scriptures  neither  learned  professors  nor  ministers 
in  holy  orders  can  enter  any  claim  superior  to  that 
of  the  average  man.  These  succulent  pastures  are 
open  alike  to  all  lovers  of  rhetorical  style  and  beauty. 

When  Paul,  a  man  of  liberal  culture,  graduate  of 
the  University  of  Jerusalem,  was  a  prisoner  at  Rome, 
he  wrote  to  a  young  friend  at  Ephesus,  "  Give  dili- 
gence to  come  shortly  unto  me.  The  cloak  which  I 
left  at  Troas  with  Carpus  bring  with  thee  when  thou 
comest,  and  the  books  but  especially  the  parchments." 
The  cloak  was  for  winter  days  in  the  Mammertine 
jail.  The  books,  probably  Greek  and  Oriental  trea- 
tises, were  such  as  would  cheer  a  scholar's  lonely 
hours.  But  the  parchments,  the  scrolls  of  Scripture, 
were  desired  above  all.  "  Especially  the  parch- 
ments !  "     He  could,  if  need  be,  endure  the  cold  of 


46  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

winter  without  his  cloak;  he  could  get  along  without 
the  classic  poets  and  philosophers;  but  the  Bible,  ah, 
he  must  have  that ;  for  the  treasures  of  life  were  in  it ! 

When  John  Bunyan  was  a  prisoner  in  Bedford  jail 
he  found  solace  for  his  loneliness  in  the  companion- 
ship of  books.  His  library,  however,  was  in  point  of 
numbers  a  very  meagre  one.  His  books  were  only 
three ;  but,  as  Mr.  Froude  significantly  says,  "  One  of 
these  was  the  Bible,  which  is  of  itself  a  liberal  edu- 
cation." 

In  view  of  the  glowing  tributes  paid  by  scholars  of 
the  centuries  to  the  literary  value  of  the  Bible,  it  be- 
hooves the  dilettanti  of  letters  to  speak  with  reserve 
in  disparagement  of  it. 

"  A  glory  gilds  the  sacred  page 

Majestic  like  the  sun; 
It  gives  a  light  to  every  age, 

It  gives  but  borrows  none. 
The  Hand  that  gave  it  still  supplies 

The  gracious  light  and  heat: 
Its  truths  upon  the  nations  rise. 

They  rise  but  never  set." 

Let  us  now  for  the  purpose  in  hand,  erase  the  name 
of  Jehovah  from  the  title  page  of  the  Bible  and  view 
it  simply  as  literature;  as  one  of  the  volumes  in  the 
world's  library.  What  other  volume  is  to  be  com- 
pared with  it? 

I.    To  begin  with,  as  to  its  Poetry. 

One-third  of  the  Old  Testament  is  in  poetic  form. 
The  earliest  of  its  poems,  and  probably  the  oldest 
scrap  of  poetry  in  existence,  is  the  Song  of  the  Sword 
in  Genesis  4 :  23.    It  seems  to  have  been  commemora- 


ITS  LITERARY  VALUE  47 

tive  of  some  primitive  feud.  A  man  named  Lamech, 
going  out  to  avenge  himself  returns  with  a  song: 

"Adah  and  Zillah,  hear  my  voice; 
Ye  wives  of  Lamech,  hearken  to  my  speech ! 
I  have  slain  a  man  for  wounding  me, 
A  young  man  for  smiting  me. 
If  Cain  was  seven  times  avenged, 
Then  Lamech  seventy  times  seven !  " 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  observe  that  there  is  np 
intimation  of  a  divine  approval  of  this  sanguinary 
outburst.  The  record  stands  without  comment,  as  in 
many  similar  cases.  It  is  greatly  to  be  deplored  that 
the  martial  spirit  of  the  Sword  Song  has  been  per- 
petuated along  the  succeeding  ages. 

A  most  stirring  paean  of  righteous  victory  is  that 
of  Deborah.  The  Marseillaise,  God  Save  the  King 
and  the  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic  are  flat,  stale 
and  unprofitable  beside  it.  She  summons  the  princes 
of  Israel  to  the  fray.  We  hear  the  footfall  of  the 
multitude  rushing  to  the  high  places  of  the  field.  The 
stars  in  their  courses  fight  against  Sisera.  The  river 
Kishon,  that  mighty  river,  sweeps  past  in  tumult, 
bearing  the  terror-stricken  enemy  in  utter  rout  towards 
the  sea.  And  above  the  hoarse  artillery  of  heaven, 
the  roar  of  torrents  and  the  affrighted  cries  of  the 
vanquished  we  hear  the  song  of  the  prophetess  inspir- 
ing the  victors  and  invoking  retribution  upon  the 
cowards  of  Israel  who  had  lingered  among  the  bleat- 
ing flocks: 

"  Curse  ye  Meroz, 
Curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof; 


48  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

Because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  the  Lord, 
To  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty! 
Through  the  window  looks 
The  mother  of  Sisera. 
'Why  lingers  his  chariot  in  coming? 
Why  tarry  the  wheels  of  his  chariot?' 
Thus  let  them  perish, 
All  thine  enemies,  O  Most  High ! 
O  my  soul, 
Thou  hast  trodden  down  strength !  '* 

Of  this  memorable  battle  song  it  may  be  said  as 
Carlyle  wrote  of  "Scots  wha  hae  wi'  Wallace  bled," 
that  it  "  should  be  sung  with  the  voice  of  the 
whirlwind." 

And  where  is  there  anything  like  Habakkuk's  vision 
from  the  watch  tower  ?  He  sees  the  Almighty  march- 
ing through  history: 

*'  God  came  from  Teman, 
And  the  Holy  One  from  Mount  Paran ; 
His  glory  covered  the  heavens 
And  the  earth  was  full  of  his  praise ! " 

Before  him  goes  the  pestilence  and  burning  coals  are 
under  his  feet;  on  either  side  the  hills  are  bowing 
and  the  mountains  are  scattering.  The  ocean  utters 
his  voice  and  lifts  his  crested  hands  on  high.  Sun 
and  moon  stand  still  in  their  habitations  at  the  flash 
of  his  speeding  arrows  and  the  shining  of  his  spear. 
With  flail  in  hand  he  strides  through  the  centuries 
threshing  the  nations  in  righteous  indignation. 

The  most  familiar  Hymn  of  the  Springtime  is  that 
of  Solomon.  All  the  poets  have  sung  of  vernal 
beauties  and  the  renewal  of  life  but  never  one  so 
sweetly  as  here: 


ITS  LITERARY  VALUE  49 

"  My  beloved   spake,  and  said  unto  me, 
Rise  up,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away! 
For  lo,  the  winter  is  past, 
The  rain  is  over  and  gone : 
The  flowers  appear  on  the  earth, 
The  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is  come 
And  the  voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land. 
The  fig-tree  ripeneth  her  green  figs,    ,, 
And  the  vines  are  in  blossom; 
They  give  forth  their  fragrance. 
Arise,  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away ! " 

The  New  Testament  opens  with  the  song  of  the 
herald  angels,  "  To  you  is  born  this  day  a  Saviour, 
which  is  Christ  the  Lord.  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good-will  among  men !  " 
Shall  we  search  for  anything  to  equal  it?  Nowhere 
shall  we  find  it  save  in  the  culminating  song  of  adora- 
tion, "Thou  art  worthy  to  receive  honour  and  power 
and  riches  and  wisdom  and  strength  and  glory  and 
blessing  for  ever  and  ever :  Amen !  " 

These  are  but  a  few  examples  of  the  inspired 
poetry  which  moved  John  Milton  to  say  "  There  are 
no  songs  like  the  songs  of  Zion."  There  are  other 
singers  like  Virgil  and  Homer  and  burning  Sappho, 
Goethe  and  Schiller  and  Shakespeare,  but  how  they 
dwindle  beside  the  bards  of  Scripture!  They  are  as 
twittering  swallows  in  a  field  of  warbling  larks. 
Never  have  poets  sung  like  those  who  dipped  their 
pens  in  "  Siloa's  brook  that  flows  fast  by  the  oracle 
of  God." 

II.  Let  us  visit  the  treasury  again  and  bring  forth 
some  of  its  masterpieces  of  Eloquence. 

We  begin  with  Judah's  plea  for  his  brethren  at  the 


50  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

Egyptian  court,  probably  the  oldest  example  of  oratory 
in  existence.  He  was  a  shepherd  at  court,  a  stranger 
in  a  strange  land,  arraigned  with  his  brethren  on  a 
criminal  charge.  The  possibility  of  death  confronted 
them.  Over  them  brooded  the  memory  of  a  dreadful 
secret  sin.  It  was  under  such  conditions  that  Judah 
presented  his  argument  in  their  behalf,  earnest  and 
pathetic  almost  unto  death.  "  His  fancy,"  says  Dr. 
Guthrie,  ''  plays  with  rare  delicacy  around  the  venera- 
ble form  of  that  patriarch  who  in  the  distant  home  is 
waiting  for  Benjamin,  and  whose  very  life  is  bound 
up  in  the  life  of  the  child."  For  Benjamin  and  that 
aged  father  he  supplicates  with  tearful  fervency :  "  And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  that  when  we  come  to  thy  servant, 
my  father,  and  he  seeth  that  the  lad  is  not  with  us,  he 
shall  die!  We  shall  bring  down  his  grey  hairs  with 
sorrow  to  the  grave !  " 

The  brief  of  Aaron's  plea  for  the  emancipation  of 
Israel  is  in  evidence.  Day  after  day,  sixteen  times 
successively,  he  comes  before  the  tyrant  Pharaoh, 
wielding  the  rod  of  Jehovah  and  in  his  name  demand- 
ing that  the  chains  of  his  people  shall  be  broken.  How 
puny  seem  the  forms  of  such  abolitionists  as  Wilber- 
force  and  Lloyd  Garrison  in  the  presence  of  this 
mighty  liberator !  ''  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  Let  my  peo- 
ple go !  "  Pharaoh  refuses.  The  river  of  Egypt  rolls 
red  as  blood,  reptiles  infest  the  land  creeping  up  even 
into  its  kneading-troughs ;  the  sun  is  veiled  in  dark- 
ness, the  pestilence  stalks  abroad,  the  harvests  are 
beaten  down  by  furious  storms  of  hail,  until — sorrow's 
crown  of  sorrow — the  lament  for  the  first-born  rises  at 
midnight  from  every  home.     Then  the  people  march 


ITS  LITERARY  VALUE  51 

forth;  three  millions  of  slaves  delivered  by  the  irre- 
sistible voice  of  a  single  servant  of  God ! 

The  time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Nathan  and  his 
parable  of  The  Little  Ewe  Lamb,  of  John  the  Baptist 
crying  in  the  wilderness,  "  Repent  ye,  repent  ye,  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand !  "  of  Stephen  court- 
ing death  in  his  eager  passion  to  unveil  the  frightful 
sin  of  the  people  in  crucifying  their  long-looked-for 
Messiah;  of  Peter  at  Pentecost  preaching  with  such 
power  that  three  thousand  souls  are  pricked  to  the 
heart  and  fall  sobbing  at  the  feet  of  the  Saviour ;  or 
of  Paul  on  Mars'  Hill,  setting  forth  the  doctrine  of 
human  rights  in  words  that  were  destined  to  be  the 
foregleam  of  all  subsequent  manifestoes  in  behalf  of 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  freedom :  "  God  hath  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  the  face 
of  the  earth !  " 

But  the  crowning  eloquence  of  the  Scriptures  is  that 
of  the  Master  himself.  No  wonder  the  common  peo- 
ple heard  him  gladly.  "  He  spake  as  one  having 
authority."  They  "  marvelled  at  the  gracious  words 
which  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth."  A  Roman  guard 
was  sent  to  arrest  him ;  they  paused  to  listen,  were 
captivated  and  returned  without  their  prisoner.  ''  Why 
have  ye  not  brought  him  ? "  demanded  their  mas- 
ters. Was  ever  so  strange  an  answer  given  by 
men  of  battle,  proof  against  sentiment,  hardened  to 
merciless  tasks.  "  Never  man  spake  like  this 
man!" 

These  are  some  of  the  displays  of  oratory  which 
moved  Daniel  Webster  to  say,  "If  there  is  aught  of 
power  on  my  lips  it  is  because  of  my  acquaintance 


52  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

with  the  eloquence  of  the  Scriptures  which  I  learned 
at  my  mother's  knee." 

HI.  We  go  again  to  the  treasury  and  bring  forth 
some  of  its  Historical  wealth. 

Here  we  have  the  only  authentic  record  of  events 
running  back  to  the  infancy  of  time.  All  other 
chronicles  are  fragmentary.  Caesar  and  Zenophon 
wrote  episodes;  but  here  are  universal  annals.  This 
is  a  deep  river,  flowing  backward  in  its  course  past  the 
ruined  cities  of  antiquity,  in  tortuous  windings  whose 
roar  and  thunder  are  as  the  confused  noise  of  baCttle ; 
through  the  quiet  pastures  of  peace,  through  the  soli- 
tudes of  primeval  ages,  past  the  confusion  of  tongues, 
the  deluge,  the  creation  of  man,  past  that  remote 
period  when  the  earth  was  without  form  and  void, 
onward  still  beyond  the  floating  nebulae,  and  still 
beyond  to  the  ineffable  glory  where  its  source  is  found 
beneath  the  heavenly  throne;  as  it  is  written,  "In 
the  beginning,  God !  " 

This  Book  of  Events  has  triumphantly  passed  the 
ordeal  of  centuries  of  adverse  criticism.  In  these  last 
days  the  archaeologists,  digging  among  the  ruins  of 
ancient  cities,  have  unearthed  many  confirmations  of 
Holy  Writ.  Voices  have  come  from  mummy  crypts 
and  buried  forums  and  sculptured  obelisks  saying, 
with  one  consent  Yea  and  Amen  to  it. 

IV-  A  passing  glance  at  the  Scientific  propositions 
of  the  Book. 

It  is  needless  to  remind  the  reader  how  persistently 
these  have  been  assailed.  It  is  a  common  thing  to  hear 
it  said,  "  The  Bible  was  not  intended  to  be  a  scientific 
book,"  giving  the  impression  that  it  makes  little  dif- 


ITS  LITERARY  VALUE  53 

fercnce,  therefore,  whether  its  scientific  affirmations 
are  correct  or  not.  This,  however,  is  not  a  matter  of 
small  moment.  If  the  book  is  not  veracious  in  this 
particular,  what  ground  have  we  for  committing  our- 
selves to  its  spiritual  guidance?  A  minister  who 
proves  himself  unreliable  in  secular  matters,  whose 
word  cannot  be  trusted  anywhere  except  in  the  pulpit, 
would  not  for  a  moment  pass  unchallenged  as  a 
spiritual  counsellor.  The  question  is  not  whether  the 
Bible  was  intended  to  be  a  scientific  book  or  not,  but 
whether  the  Bible  is  true.  It  is  not  true  unless  it  is 
true  and  reliable  every  way. 

The  Old  Testament  Scriptures  abound  everywhere 
in  scientific  statements.  They  treat  of  biology,  eth- 
nology, astronomy,  geology,  zoology,  indeed  of  every 
department  of  natural  science.  You  would  have  to 
tear  the  Book  to  tatters  in  order  to  eliminate  such  allu- 
sions. But  neither  in  general  nor  in  particular  have 
they  been  successfully  impugned.  The  substantial  dis- 
coveries of  science  (observe,  I  do  not  say  dreams  and 
hypotheses)  are  continually  indorsing  and  verifying 
them.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  multitudes  of  un- 
devout  scientists  are  clamorous  against  them.  But  the 
Bible  which  has  withstood  the  hostile  criticism  of  cen- 
turies, is  not  likely  to  be  aflfected  in  this  way. 

V.    Now  as  to  the  Ethics  of  the  Scriptures. 

By  common  consent  the  Bible  is  accepted  as  the 
standard  of  universal  morals.  We  take  our  position 
between  Sinai  and  Olivet,  the  two  mountains  of  the 
Law  and  the  Gospel,  and  find  here  the  source  of  the 
world's  jurisprudence  and  the  sanctions  of  all  civil  and 
social  peace  and  order. 


54<  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

And  along  with  these  ethical  precepts  of  Scripture 
we  find  here  a  portrait  gallery  of  worthies  in  whom 
they  have  been  practically  illustrated,  such  as  Enoch, 
Abraham,  David,  Elijah,  Ruth  the  virtuous,  the  three 
Marys,  Paul  and  the  Sons  of  Thunder.  What  a  roll 
call  of  mighty  and  virtuous  ones  is  found  in  these 
inspired  pages !  Yet  all  alike  are  avowedly  "  concluded 
under  sin,"  and  all  join  in  the  confession  that  they 
"  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God." 

There  is  One  among  them,  however,  whose  face 
shines  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength.  Over  his 
head  we  write,  "  The  Wonderful,"  and  under  his  feet, 
"Verily  this  was  a  righteous  man."  How  it  helps  us 
struggling  men  and  women  to  have  an  ideal  so  glorious 
before  us!  In  him  we  behold  the  perfect  consumma- 
tion of  duty,  holiness,  manhood,  character.  He  is  the 
only  one  who  ever  lived  on  earth  of  whom  it  could 
be  said,  He  was  as  good  as  the  law.  Of  him  the 
Nonesuch  Professor  aptly  says,  "  He  brought  the  bot- 
tom of  his  life  up  to  the  top  of  his  light."  In  him 
all  graces  were  combined,  precisely  as  all  colours  blend 
in  the  white  solar  ray — the  golden  glory  of  the  sunrise, 
the  deep  blue  of  the  heavens,  the  emerald  of  the  sea. 
Thus  Christ,  illustrating  in  himself  all  virtues  and 
excellencies,  stands  forth  in  history  as  the  Ideal  Man. 

VI.  Once  more,  let  us  bring  forth  from  the  store- 
house its  wealth  of  Doctrine.  For  the  Scriptures  are 
of  pre-eminent  value  in  their  clear  solution  of  the  prob- 
lems of  the  spiritual  life. 

There  are  some  things  which  all  earnest  souls  are 
eager  to  know.  We  can  get  along  without  science,  we 
can  live  without  the  lower  forms  of  knowledge,  but 


ITS  LITERARY  VALUE  55 

we  must  somehow  be  advised  respecting  the  problems 
of  our  origin  and  destiny.  Whence  came  we  and 
whither  do  we  go?  Is  there  a  God?  Shall  we  stand 
before  him  in  judgment?  Is  there  a  heaven ?  Is  there 
a  hell?  Can  a  man  be  delivered  from  the  shame  and 
penalty  and  power  of  sin?  These  are  questions  that 
will  not  down.    They  demand  an  answer. 

All  such  uncertainties  are  involved  in  that  old  ques- 
tion, '*  What  is  truth  ?  "  The  Academy  by  the  Ilissus, 
the  painted  porch  of  Zeno,  the  Garden  of  Epicurus, 
represent  vain  efforts  to  answer  it.  Canst  thou  by 
searching  find  out  God  ?  The  despair  of  the  world  was 
expressed  by  Pilate  when  he  satirically  asked,  "  What 
is  truth?''  But  it  has  pleased  God  to  make  known  in 
the  Scriptures  the  things  which  are  beyond  our  un- 
aided reason. 

Other  books  have  poems,  but  no  other  sings  the  song 
of  salvation  and  gives  the  troubled  soul  a  peace  that 
floweth  like  a  river.  Other  books  have  eloquence,  but 
no  other  enables  us  to  behold  God  stretching  out 
pierced  hands  and  pleading  with  men  to  turn  and  live. 
Other  books  have  history,  but  no  other  tells  the  story 
of  divine  love  reaching  from  the  remote  councils  of 
eternity  to  its  consummation  on  Calvary,  "  the  old,  old 
story  of  Jesus  and  his  love."  Other  books  have  science, 
but  no  other  can  give  a  man  such  definite  assurance 
with  respect  to  the  future  that  he  can  say,  "  I  know 
whom  I  have  believed  and  am  persuaded  that  he  is 
able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him 
against  that  day."  Other  books  set  forth  philosophy, 
but  no  other  makes  us  wise  with  respect  to  all  those 
great  doctrines  which  centre  in  the  living  God. 


56  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

Let  us  remember  then,  the  word  of  the  Master  how 
he  said,  *'  Search  the  Scriptures."  The  word  is 
ereunate,  meaning  to  search  Hke  a  hound  on  the  trail. 
Search  them  as  for  hid  treasure!  Blessed,  thrice 
blessed  is  the  man  who,  by  such  searching,  finds  the 
secret  of  eternal  life. 

This  is  the  field  where  hidden  lies 

The  pearl  of  price  unknown ; 
The  merchant  is  divinely  wise 

Who  makes  that  pearl  his  own. 

In  our  childhood  we  were  led  by  fairy  guides  into 
subterranean  caves,  where  vaulted  roofs  and  fretted 
walls  sparkled  with  precious  stones.  Thus,  to  the 
reader  whose  eyes  are  opened  by  the  touch  of  the 
Spirit,  do  the  Scriptures  glow  with  the  unspeakable 
riches  of  truth.  But  amid  their  countless  splendours 
there  is  none  so  wonderful  as  Christ  himself.  He  is 
the  Kohinoor,  the  crown  jewel  of  them  all. 

These  being  the  literary  marvels  of  the  Book  is  it 
in  anywise  surprising  that  it  should  be  "the  best 
seller"  in  the  book  markets  of  the  world  to-day? 


VII 
ITS  UP-TO-DATE-NESS 

THE  Bible  is  the  oldest  book  in  the  world.  A 
considerable  part  of  it  was  old  enough  to  be  out 
of  date — had  it  not  been  immune  against  the 
ravages  of  time — when  Cecrops  founded  Egypt.  We 
speak  of  Chaucer  as  the  father  of  Anglo-Saxon  litera- 
ture; but  the  book  of  Job  was  current  three  thousand 
years  before  Dan  Chaucer  opened  up  the  "  well  of 
English  undefyled."  Dr.  Johnson  read  the  sweet 
pastoral  of  Ruth  aloud  in  a  literary  club,  at  a  time 
when  infidelity  was  rife :  and  great  was  the  amazement 
of  his  hearers  when,  in  answer  to  their  exclamation, 
''Where  did  you  find  it?"  he  answered,  "This  was 
written  twenty-five  hundred  years  before  Columbus 
was  born !  " 

Yet,  strange  to  say,  this  oldest  of  books  is  the 
freshest  of  all.  No  other  will  bear  reading  over  and 
over  again  with  "  new  light  ever  bursting  from  it." 
Dr.  Elliot  sitting  by  the  window  with  a  Bible  on  his 
knees,  on  being  asked  by  his  daughter  what  he  was 
reading,  replied, ''  The  news,  my  dear,  always  the  good 
news ! " 

The  poet  Goethe  said,  "The  Bible  becomes  more 
and  more  beautiful,  the  more  I  study  it."  There  are 
millions  of  people  who  are  searching  the  Scriptures 
year  in  and  year  out  and  finding  them  as  fresh  as  the 

57 


58  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

break  of  day.  This  is  because  the  Book  was  so  con- 
structed, by  divine  wisdom,  as  to  anticipate  progress. 
Its  truths,  its  ethical  precepts,  its  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises,  are  like  Oriental  spices  which,  the 
more  they  are  rubbed,  give  forth  the  more  of  fragrant 
sweetness.  The  Gospel  is  indeed  the  last  tidings  from 
the  heaven  of  a  loving  God. 

There  are  men  posing  as  "  liberal "  and  "  progres- 
sive "  who  speak  patronizingly  of  the  Bible  as  a  "  back 
number,"  good  enough  perhaps  for  its  time  but  far 
behind  the  days  we  are  living  in.  The  trouble  with 
them,  however,  is  that  they  themselves  have  failed  to 
keep  abreast  of  progress.  They  are  like  the  Danites 
who,  defaulting  in  loyalty  to  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant 
and  its  Book  of  the  Law,  were  condemned  to  **  go 
hindmost  with  their  standards."     (Numbers  2:  31.) 

There  have  always  been  Danites  in  the  church,  self- 
sufficient,  arrogant,  heedless  of  authority  and  disloyal 
to  "  Book  of  the  Law."  In  our  time  they  call  them- 
selves "  liberal,"  because  of  their  liberalism  toward  all 
but  loyalists;  and  "progressive,"  despite  their  rejec- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  which  ever  lead  the  van.  In 
point  of  fact  they  are  themselves  behind  the  times ;  and 
despite  their  clamorous  insistence  on  leadership  they 
do  go  "  hindmost  with  their  standards  "  in  the  proces- 
sion of  events. 

They  say  they  "  love  the  Bible  " ;  but  their  devotion 
to  it  is  like  that  of  Abner  for  Asahel,  who  while  greet- 
ing him  affectionately  was  fumbling  for  his  dagger 
that  he  might  "  smite  him  under  the  fifth  rib."  They 
profess  loyalty  to  the  Church;  but  like  a  serpent  by 
the  way  they  "  bite  the  heels  "  of  the  Lord's  cavalry 


ITS  UP-TO-DATE-NESS  59 

as  it  pursues  its  evangelistic  march  toward  the  Golden 
Age.  They  profess  a  profound  reverence  for  Christ : 
yet  they  insist  that  those  who  follow  his  teaching  and 
example  in  the  defence  of  the  Scriptures  are  far  and 
away  behind  the  age.  Are  they  right?  If  so,  Christ 
and  his  apostles,  and  the  ministry  generally,  and  the 
great  body  of  believers  in  the  Universal  Church 
throughout  the  world  are  desperately  wrong  in  follow- 
ing the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  with  its  Book  of  the 
Law. 

(i)  All  loyalists  maintain,  to  begin  with,  that 
the  Bible  as  a  book  of  science  is  abreast  of  the 
age. 

Let  us  open  it  and  straightway  we  come  upon  these 
words :  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth.''  Here  are  three  scientific  propositions 
in  a  row,  all  dealing  with  the  origin  of  things. 

To  begin  with,  God:  not  law,  nor  energy,  nor  a  head- 
less, heartless,  heedless  "  soul  of  the  universe  " ;  but 
One  to  whom  we  can  lift  our  eyes  and  say,  "  Our 
Father  " ;  a  Father  with  eyes  to  see,  and  a  heart  to 
pity  and  an  arm  to  make  bare  in  our  behalf,  "  when 
the  blast  of  the  terrible  ones  is  as  a  storm  against  the 
wall." 

Then  "  God  created."  This  scientific  proposition  is 
set  over  against  three  counter  propositions;  namely, 
the  Eternity  of  Matter,  Autogenesis  and  Evolution. 
The  first  of  these  is  a  grotesque  attempt  to  cut  the 
Gordian  knot.  The  second  is  a  dogma  without  a 
scintilla  of  evidence,  since  nobody  is  able  to  exhibit  so 
much  as  one  self-producing  midget  or  grain  of  sand. 
And  the  third  is  a  pure  hypothesis,  which  many  of  the 


60  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

leading  scientists  have  avowedly  abandoned  on  the 
ground  that  it  "  does  not  aiford  a  working  theory  of 
origins." 

Still  further,  God  created  the  heavens  and  earth 
and  all  things  therein  in  a  definite  order.  And  the 
order  of  creation  as  here  laid  down  is  confirmed  by 
leading  cosmologists.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  a  book 
written  so  many  thousands  of  years  ago  should  have 
anticipated  the  researches  of  the  later  centuries.  How 
shall  we  account  for  it  ?  There  was  a  time  when  those 
who  called  themselves  "  advanced  thinkers  "  insisted 
that  there  was  a  mistake  in  the  Genesis  statement  as 
to  the  existence  of  light  before  the  sun;  but  nobody 
says  so  now ;  because  everybody  knows  that  f  rictional 
or  electric  light  must  have  existed  in  the  confusion  of 
chaos  before  the  appearance  of  the  sun.  Thus  the 
scientific  propositions  of  the  Scriptures — called  in 
question  one  by  one — have  survived  criticism  and 
emerged  as  proven  facts. 

So  if  any  of  us  are  posing  as  **  progressives,"  it 
would  be  well  to  take  heed  lest  we  may  be  found  hind- 
most in  the  ranks.  Let  us  put  our  ears  to  the  ground 
and  listen  to  things  that  are  going  on. 

(2)  Now  with  reference  to  the  Bible  as  a  hook  of 
history.  It  is  worth  noting  that  those  who  call  them- 
selves "  liberals  "  and  "  progressives  "  and  "  higher 
critics  "  and  *'  advanced  thinkers  "  ("  There  is  a  gen- 
eration, O  how  high  are  their  eyes  and  their  eyelids 
lifted  up!")  while  insisting  that  the  Scriptures  were 
really  "  intended  to  show  historically  the  evolution  of 
a  Nation,"  yet,  in  the  same  breath,  affirm  that  their 
historicity  is  not  to  be  depended  on !    But  all  attempts 


ITS  UP-TO-DATE-NESS  61 

to  cast  reproach  on  their  historical  veracity  are  utterly 
vain. 

The  Pentateuch,  made  up  of  the  Five  Books  of 
Moses,  has  naturally  been  the  centre  of  attack.  It  has 
been  stigmatized  as  a  collection  of  myths  and  fables 
and  folk-lore,  little  better  that  the  preposterous  Tales 
of  Baron  Munchausen.  There  are  theological  profes- 
sors who  frankly  hold  that  view. 

It  was  not  long  ago  that  certain  "  progressives  '* 
were  wont  to  affirm  boldly  that  there  never  was  any 
such  person  as  Moses,  because  no  mention  of  him 
could  be  found  in  other  records ;  and,  anyway,  allow- 
ing that  there  was  such  a  man,  he  couldn't  possibly 
have  written  the  Pentateuch,  because  the  art  of  writ- 
ing was  unknown  in  his  time.  Then  along  came  a 
man  with  a  spade  and,  digging  among  the  ruins  of 
Tel-el- Amarna,  he  unearthed  a  whole  library  of  cor- 
respondence carried  on  by  the  Kings  of  Babylon  be- 
fore Moses  was  dreamed  of ! 

They  said  that  Exodus  was  a  myth ;  for  how  could 
there  have  been  such  an  emeute  of  millions  of  slaves 
without  some  mention  of  it  in  contemporary  annals? 
Then  along  came  the  man  with  the  spade  and  began 
digging  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile;  and  presently  he 
came  upon  a  burial  crypt  from  which  was  taken  a 
mummy  of  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus,  wrapped  in 
byssus  bands  on  which  was  inscribed  the  going  forth 
of  the  fugitives! 

But,  in  any  case,  it  was  insisted  that  there  were  no 
Hittites,  no  such  formidable  nation  as  the  Israelites 
are  said  to  have  encountered  in  the  subjugation  of 
Canaan ;  for  surely  so  important  a  nation  would  have 


62  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

been  mentioned  somewhere  else.  The  man  with  the 
spade  appeared  again;  and  in  the  valley  of  the 
Euphrates  he  unearthed  seals  and  cylinders  and  ruined 
cities  which  certified  not  only  to  the  fact  that  the  Hit- 
tites  existed  but  that  they  conquered  Egypt  and 
flourished — at  the  very  time  indicated  in  the  Pentateuch 
— as  the  greatest  of  the  Great  Powers  of  those  days ! 

Let  the  Danites  take  heed  and  beware  of  this  man 
with  the  spade!  For  it  has  pleased  the  God  of  the 
Scriptures  to  leave  a  Trial  Ledger  in  the  deep  places 
of  the  earth,  by  which  the  arrogant  claims  of  those 
who  deny  the  historicity  of  the  inspired  records  may 
at  any  moment  be  put  to  an  open  shame. 

(3)  Now  let  us  revert  again  to  the  Bible  as  a  mas- 
terpiece of  literature. 

It  is,  as  I  have  repeatedly  said,  the  oldest  book  in  the 
world.  How  shall  we  account  for  its  existence  to-day  ? 
Old  books  die.  Where  are  "  Novum  Organum,"  **  Hy- 
driotaphia"  and  "  Eikonoklastes  "  ?  You  do  not  even 
recognize  their  names  ?  Yet  these  were  the  three  epoch- 
making  books  of  their  time !  "  Novum  Organum,"  by 
Lord  Bacon,  introduced  with  new  emphasis  the  induc- 
tive system  of  philosophy.  ''  Hydriotaphia,"  by  Sir 
Thomas  Browne,  was  regarded  as  the  most  comprehen- 
sive thesaurus  of  knowledge  produced  thus  far.  And 
"  Eikonoklastes,"  by  John  Milton,  was  the  monumental 
defence  of  popular  rights  as  against  the  divine  right 
of  kings.  Where  are  they  now?  Yet  the  old  Bible 
still  lives  and  is  "  the  best  seller  "  in  the  book  markets 
of  the  world. 

But  if  the  Bible  has  such  surpassing  merit,  from 
the  literary  point  of  view,  why  should  there  be  such 


ITS  UP-TO-DATENESS  63 

a  prejudice  against  it?  Can  it  be  that  our  ''progres- 
sive "  friends  have  been  so  busily  engaged  in  studying 
its  outside  that  they  are  actually  ignorant  of  its  con- 
tents?   Such  things  have  been  known. 

There  never  was  a  more  "  progressive  "  body  of  men 
than  the  free  thinking  members  of  the  Encyclopedia 
in  France  a  hundred  years  ago;  yet  when  Benjamin 
Franklin  read  to  them  a  chapter  of  Scripture  begin- 
ning, "  God  came  from  Teman  and  the  Holy  One 
from  Paran,"  they  exclaimed  with  one  accord,  "  Won- 
derful! Wonderful!  But  who  wrote  it?"  On  his 
replying,  "  This  is  the  prayer  of  Habakkuk,"  they 
cried,  "  Habakkook !  Who  is  Habakkook  ?  We  never 
heard  of  him." 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  fame  that  young  men  are 
going  out  of  certain  of  our  theological  seminaries 
armed  with  all  sorts  of  information  against  the 
authenticity  of  the  Bible,  who,  on  examination,  prove 
to  be  hopelessly  ignorant  of  what  is  recorded  in  it. 

(4)  Finally,  consider  the  Bible  as  a  religious  hook. 
And  just  here  is  the  real  secret  of  the  opposition  to 
it.  "  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God " ;  and 
the  moment  you  open  the  Bible  you  come  upon  some 
tremendous  truths  that  centre  in  him. 

The  first  of  these  is  God  himself:  whom  the 
Athenian  mind  so  far  explains  away  that  no  altar  is 
left  but  one  inscribed  "  To  the  unknown  God." 

The  second  is  man ;  made  in  God's  likeness  but  lost 
in  sin,  his  birthright  gone  and  Ichabod  written  on  his 
forehead :  *'  The  glory  hath  departed."  This  is  attrib- 
uted to  an  incident  known  as  ''  The  fall."  But  the 
fall  is  denied.     One  of  our  leading  "  liberals  "  said 


64  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

forty  years  ago  that  '*  if  man  ever  fell,  he  fell  up." 
He  would  scarcely  say  so  to-day,  however,  because  the 
last  forty  years  have  witnessed  the  formulation  and 
general  acceptance  of  a  scientiBc  doctrine  known  as 
"  heredity  "  which  is  almost  literally  a  paraphrase  of 
original  sin. 

The  third  of  the  religious  truths  of  Scripture  is  the 
Reconciliation  of  sinful  man  with  a  holy  God.  Here 
emerges  the  Cross.  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only  begotten  son  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life."  As 
the  vicarious  atonement  is  practically  denied  by  all 
so-called  "  progressives,"  it  surely  devolves  upon  them 
to  show  how  the  wayward  child  and  the  offended 
Father  can  be  brought  into  an  at-one-ment  in  some 
other  way.  But  the  Bible  way  is  the  only  way.  "  The 
Jesus  road,"  as  the  Apaches  call  it,  is  the  only  road 
back  to  God.  There  is  no  suggestion  in  the  Koran  or 
any  other  of  the  sacred  books,  in  science  or  philosophy 
or  anywhere  else,  of  any  other  plan  for  blotting  out  the 
mislived  past.  It  is  only  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  that 
cleanseth  from  sin. 

These  are  the  doctrines  that  are  most  strenuously 
objected  to;  yet  these  very  doctrines  are  abreast  of 
foremost  thought.  The  arguments  adduced  against 
them  are  so  old  that  I  marvel  at  the  foolhardiness  of 
the  man  who  reproduces  them.  Celsus  redivivus,  and 
Porphyry,  Julian  the  Apostate,  Spinoza,  Diderot,  Jean 
Jaques  Rousseau,  Voltaire,  Thomas  Paine,  Strauss, 
Ernst  Renan  and  Theodore  Parker — ^behold  them  pa- 
rading in  many  of  our  pulpits  and  professor's  chairs ! 
Up-to-date,  forsooth  ?    Not  among  such  Danites,  bring- 


ITS  UP-TO-DATENESS  65 

ing  up  the  rear  di  the  procession,  will  you  hear  the 
bugle  call  of  progress  in  these  days. 

In  one  of  the  battles  of  our  Civil  War  a  regiment 
was  commanded  to  charge  upon  a  Confederate  battery, 
which  they  proceeded  to  do.  But,  meeting  with  unex- 
pected opposition,  they  were  ordered  to  retreat.  The 
colour-bearer,  however,  not  hearing  the  order, 
inarched  straight  on.  *'  Bring  back  that  flag !  "  called 
the  colonel.  "  Bring  up  your  men !  "  replied  the  colour- 
bearer.  The  Ark  of  the  Covenant  hears  no  order  to 
retreat.  The  Book  of  the  Law  "  floateth  like  a  ban- 
ner" in  the  vanguard  of  Israel.  It  tarries  not  for 
Danites  who  abide  at  home.  "  The  royal  standards 
onward  go !  " 

The  Bible  has  come  to  stay.  The  old  challenge  of 
Isaiah  holds  good,  *'  The  voice  said  '  Cry ! '  And  I 
said  '  What  shall  I  cry  ?  ' — '  All  flesh  is  grass  and  all 
the  goodliness  thereof  is  as  the  flower  of  the  field ;  the 
grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth ;  because  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  bloweth  upon  it.  The  grass  withereth,  the 
flower  fadeth:  but  the  word  of  our  God  shall  stand 
forever.'  " 

Thus  it  is  written  and  thus  it  must  be ;  for  the  mouth 
of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 


VIII 

ITS  TONE  OF  AUTHORITY 

THERE  are  three  lines  of  evidence  in  favour  of 
Christianity ;  namely,  oral  testimony,  Scripture 
and  personal  experience.  These  when  com- 
bined are  conclusive  and  irrefutable.  "  A  three  fold 
cord  is  not  easily  broken." 

First:  As  to  Oral  Testimony. 

Peter  says,  "  We  have  not  followed  cunningly  de- 
vised fables,  when  we  made  known  unto  you  the  power 
and  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  were  eye- 
witnesses of  his  majesty.  For  he  received  from  God 
the  Father  honour  and  glory,  when  there  came  such 
a  voice  to  him  from  the  excellent  glory,  '  This  is  my 
beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased !  *  And  this 
voice  which  came  from  heaven  we  heard  when  we 
were  with  him  in  the  holy  mount." 

The  Apostle  was  here  speaking  to  those  who  had 
not  seen  Jesus  in  the  flesh.  He  himself  had  heard  his 
sermons,  seen  his  miracles,  witnessed  his  wonderful 
life.  In  particular,  he  had  been  with  him  in  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration,  had  seen  his  homespun  gar- 
ments flutter  aside  for  a  moment  revealing  the  royal 
purple,  and  had  heard  the  Voice  saying,  **  This  is  my 
beloved  Son !  "  All  this  was  no  dream,  no  fable,  no 
hallucination;  he  had  seen  and  heard  it.  And  there 
were  others  who,  as  eyewitnesses,  were  prepared  to 

66 


ITS  TONE  OF  AUTHORITY  67 

testify  in  like  manner  as  to  the  divine  character  and 
mission  of  Christ.  This  sort  of  testimony  is  still 
offered  to  sustain  the  Gospel  claim. 

But  you  say,  "  This  is  mere  hearsay."    We  answer : 

( 1 )  Such  hearsay  has  valid  weight  as  evidence.  In 
fact  we  are  all  the  while  accepting  evidence  of  this 
sort  without  a  murmur.  How  do  we  know  that  light 
travels  at  the  rate  of  186,000  miles  a  second?  Only 
because  certain  persons,  after  investigation,  have  said 
so.  How  do  we  know  that  melancholy  remnants  of 
the  British  and  German  fleets  are  lying  at  the  bottom 
of  the  North  Sea?  Men  who  were  present  have  told 
us  so.  How  do  we  know  that  Croton  water  is  fit  to 
drink?  We  rest  on  the  assurance  of  scientists  who 
have  analyzed  it.  I  suppose  that  ninety-nine  per  cent, 
of  our  knowledge  comes  by  hearsay.  We  receive  the 
testimony  of  eye-witnesses,  as  a  matter  of  course,  un- 
less there  is  some  definite  reason  for  rejecting  it. 

(2)  Such  evidence,  in  favour  of  Christianity,  has 
a  cumulative  value  for  us.  In  Peter's  time  there  were 
only  a  few  witnesses  who  could  say,  "  That  which  we 
have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which 
we  have  looked  upon  and  our  hands  have  handled  of 
the  word  of  life,  declare  we  unto  you."  We,  on  the 
contrary,  have  the  testimony  of  a  great  multitude 
which  no  man  can  number.  For  the  little  procession 
of  eleven  men  who  originally  came  down  the  outer 
stairway  from  an  upper  room  in  Jerusalem  has  in- 
creased along  the  centuries  from  hundreds  to  thou- 
sands, from  thousands  to  hundreds  of  millions.  They 
have  passed  by  the  light  of  fagot-fires  and  under  the 
shadow  of  dungeons  and  gallows-trees,  declaring  the 


68  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

testimony  of  Jesus  and  singing  his  praise  in  hosannas 
that  blend  like  a  chorus  of  many  waters  and  mighty 
thunderings  issuing  from  the  heavenly  gates.  Hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  Christians  living  to-day  are  pre- 
pared to  testify  as  to  their  personal  experience  in  the 
truth  of  the  Scriptures.  They  certify  with  one  accord, 
''  We  were  sinners,  troubled  with  a  certain  fearful 
looking-for  of  judgment.  We  came  to  the  written 
Word  for  knowledge  as  to  the  Incarnate  Word;  and 
finding  Christ  we  have  found  salvation  through  faith 
in  him.  Thus  the  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding 
has  come  into  our  hearts.  We  have  not  followed  cun- 
ningly devised  fables.  We  speak  from  experience. 
We  know  whom  we  have  believed  and  are  persuaded 
that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  we  have  committed 
to  him  until  that  day." 

It  is  submitted  that  so  great  a  body  of  testimony  is 
of  overwhelming  weight.  To  a  reasonable  man  it  must 
be  quite  conclusive,  unless  some  definite  rebuttal  is 
forthcoming.  Certainly  no  court  of  justice  would  re- 
ject it. 

The  Second  line  of  evidence  is  Scripture  itself. 

Of  this  Peter  goes  on  to  say,  "  We  have  also  a  more 
sure  word  of  prophecy  (i.e.  more  sure  than  hearsay), 
whereunto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed,  as  unto  a  light 
that  shineth  in  a  dark  place,  until  the  day  dawn  and 
the  daystar  arise  in  your  hearts:  knowing  this  first, 
that  no  prophecy  of  the  Scripture  is  of  any  private 
interpretation.  For  the  prophecy  came  not  in  old  time 
by  the  will  of  man:  but  holy  men  of  God  spake  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  fact  that  Scripture  is  "  more  sure  "  than  oral 


ITS  TONE  OF  AUTHORITY  69 

testimony  is  thus  clearly  based  upon  its  ultimate 
authority  as  the  inspired  and  veritable  Word  of  God. 

It  is  obvious  that  there  must  be  somewhere  a  final 
criterion  of  truth.  There  are  standards  of  weight  and 
measure  at  Washington  for  the  testing  of  every  pound 
and  yardstick  in  our  country.  It  cannot  be  supposed 
that  the  Heavenly  Father  would  set  his  children 
adrift  without  a  trustworthy  chart  for  their  direction. 
This  is  the  rationale  of  the  Scriptures.  They  were 
intended  to  be  an  ultimate  and  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  conduct.  And  they  are  so  received,  despite  all 
controversy,  by  the  Universal  Church.  The  man  who 
rejects  them  is  bound,  in  justice  to  himself,  to  discover 
some  other  court  of  final  authority,  where  he  may 
seek,  amid  the  noise  of  conflicting  voices,  a  confirma- 
tion of  spiritual  things. 

The  apostle  justifies  his  confidence  in  the  Scriptures 
by  adding  that  they  '"  came  not  by  the  will  of  man ; 
but  through  holy  men  who  spake  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost."  If  this  means  anything,  it  means 
that  the  men  who  wrote  the  Scriptures  did  not  sit  down 
of  themselves,  with  stylus  and  parchment,  saying,  *'  I 
will  write  an  account  of  the  Creation,"  or,  "  I  will 
write  the  history  of  Israel,"  or,  "  I  will  write  a  predic- 
tion of  the  Messiah,"  or,  ''  I  will  write  doctrine  and 
ethics ; "  but  they  proceeded  to  their  work  and  per- 
formed it  under  the  immediate  direction  and  control 
of  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  figure  is  that  of  a  vessel 
under  sail.  They  were  "moved"  by  the  divine 
Breath  as  a  ship  is  borne  onward  by  the  wind  filling 
its  canvas.  In  other  words  they  wrote  what  they  were 
directed  to  write  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 


70  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

Still  further,  the  apostle  says  that  the  Scriptures  so 
written  are  not  "  of  any  private  interpretation."  The 
word  here  rendered  "  private  "  is  idia,  literally  *'  one's 
own."  This  means  that  no  man  is  his  own  interpreter. 
When  we  speak  of  ''  the  right  of  private  judgment " 
with  reference  to  Scriptures,  we  mean  to  exclude  all 
human  interposition  between  the  soul  and  God;  but 
alas  for  one  who  approaches  Revelation  in  the  dim 
light  of  his  own  unaided  reason.  The  finite  cannot 
grasp  the  infinite.  "  Spiritual  things  are  spiritually 
discerned."  God,  who  gave  the  Scriptures,  must  help 
us  to  understand  them.  Wherefore  the  Holy  Ghost, 
by  whom  the  sacred  page  is  illuminated,  is  represented 
as  "  anointing  our  eyes  with  eyesalve  "  that  we  may 
wisely  read  it. 

The  chancellor  of  Queen  Candace,  riding  in  his 
chariot,  with  the  sacred  scroll  of  the  prophet  Isaiah 
before  him,  knit  his  brows  in  perplexity  as  he  read  the 
Messianic  prediction,  "  He  is  led  as  a  sheep  to  the 
slaughter;  and,  like  a  lamb  dumb  before  his  shearers, 
so  he  openeth  not  his  mouth."  Philip,  the  evangelist, 
walking  alongside  and  hearing  him,  asked,  "  Under- 
standest  thou  what  thou  readest  ? "  He  answered, 
*'  How  can  I,  except  some  man  shall  guide  me  ?  "  He 
was  then  guided  by  the  Spirit;  and  straightway  the 
truth  flashed  upon  him. 

The  Third  line  of  evidence  is  also  named  by  Peter; 
to  wit,  Personal  Experience. 

We  are  like  wanderers  in  the  night;  voices  are 
heard  about  us,  saying,  "  This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in 
it;"  better  still,  the  Bible  is  given  us  as  a  lantern 
**  shining  in  a  dark  place ; "  but,  when  yonder  we  see 


ITS  TONE  OF  AUTHORITY  71 

the  light  of  the  morning,  our  perplexity  is  over.  Thus 
personal  experience  adds  final  confirmation  to  oral 
testimony  and  Scripture.  Peter  says  we  do  well  to 
listen  to  the  word  of  eye-witnesses  and  to  give  heed  to 
the  lamp-light  of  prophecy  "  until  the  day  dawn  and 
the  day  star  arise  in  our  hearts." 

A  woman  once  came  running  into  the  city  of  Sa- 
maria, saying,  ''  I  went  out  to  Jacob's  well  to  draw 
water;  and  a  wayfarer  met  me  who  spake  as  never 
man  spake  of  spiritual  things;  he  told  me  all  things 
that  ever  I  did.  Is  not  this  the  Messiah  for  whom 
we  have  been  looking?  Come  and  see!  "  Her  friends 
and  neighbours  followed  her  back  to  the  well  and 
heard  him.  They  besought  him  to  be  their  guest  and 
he  abode  with  them  two  days ;  and  many  believed  be- 
cause of  his  word.  Then  they  said  to  the  woman, 
*'  Now  we  believe,  not  because  of  thy  saying ;  for  we 
have  heard  him  ourselves  and  know  that  this  is  indeed 
the  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world."  Thus  in  the 
last  reduction  a  man  is  savingly  convinced  only  by 
personal  experience ;  when  he  can  say,  "  I  have  met 
Christ,  have  made  his  acquaintance,  have  reasoned 
with  him  by  the  way,  and  have  learned  to  reverence 
and  love  him." 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  final  reference 
with  respect  to  spiritual  truth  is  to  the  Bible  itself. 
Hearsay  is  not  infallible ;  personal  experience  is  con- 
fined to  the  purview  of  a  single  soul;  but  the  Scrip- 
tures are  the  Court  of  Final  Appeal  because  they  speak 
with  the  authority  of  a  supreme  and  omniscient  God. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  a  book  like  this,  dealing 
with   spiritual    truths    all    of    which    lie    beyond    the 


7^  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

bailiwick  of  the  physical  senses,  would  speak  with 
some  measure  of  reserve  or  uncertainty;  but  there  are 
no  ifs  or  perhapses  or  peradventures  here.  How 
could  a  divine  book  speak  that  way?  We  want  no 
guesses  about  life  and  immortality.  We  must  know. 
We  want  authority;  and  there  can  be  no  final  au- 
thority with  respect  to  such  problems  except  that  of 
a  divine  ipse  dixit.  Wherefore  the  Book  says  always, 
"  Yea  and  Amen,"  and  ''  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  and, 
*'  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you." 

Put  an  "  if "  into  the  Decalogue  and  you  lay  a 
charge  of  dynamite  under  the  morality  of  men  and 
nations.  Put  an  **  if  "  under  the  manger  at  Bethlehem, 
and  you  destroy  the  happiness  of  a  million  homes. 
Put  an  "  if  "  under  Calvary,  and  you  make  us  Chris- 
tians of  all  men  most  miserable.  Put  an  '*  if  "  under 
the  empty  sepulchre  in  Joseph's  garden,  and  straight- 
way our  visions  of  life  and  immortality  vanish  into 
thin  air.  But  blessed  be  God,  there  are  no  ifs  in  the 
Bible.  It  gives  no  uncertain  sound.  It  speaks  as  be- 
comes the  Oracles  of  God. 


IX 

ITS  TRUSTWORTHINESS 

NO  claim  of  inerrancy  is  made  for  the  King 
James  version  of  the  Scriptures,  nor  for  any- 
other  of  the  multitudinous  versions  current  in 
the  world  to-day. 

It  is  claimed,  however,  first,  that  the  original  manu- 
scripts, as  they  left  the  hands  of  "  holy  men  who  wrote 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God,"  must  have 
been  free  from  error  in  the  necessity  of  the  case ;  and 
second,  that  the  errors  in  existing  copies  are  of  such  a 
character  as  to  convince  an  unprejudiced  mind  that 
the  originals  were  without  a  flaw. 

Whether  or  no  the  assurance  of  such  inerrancy  in 
the  original  autographs  is  worth  while  is  another 
question.  There  are  those  who  say,  "  What  matters 
it  to  us  whether  the  writings  on  sheepskin  scrolls 
which  perished  long  centuries  ago  were  flawless  or 
not?  We  never  saw  them  and  have  practically  noth- 
ing to  do  with  them." 

To  whom  we  answer;  first,  our  belief  in  their  in- 
tegrity has  a  vital  bearing  not  only  on  our  opinion  of 
the  veracity  of  God  but  also  of  the  character  of  those 
who  claimed  to  be  moved  by  his  Spirit  in  declaring 
his  holy  will.  It  is  possible  to  conceive  that  a  man 
whose  mother  died  before  he  set  eyes  upon  her  might 
be  wholly  indifferent  as  to  the  question  whether  she 

73 


74j  why  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

was  a  good  woman  or  not,  but  most  of  us  would  feel 
differently  about  it. 

Our  second  answer  to  the  man  who  cavils  at  the 
importance  of  believing  in  the  integrity  of  the  original 
autographs  is  that  our  view  with  respect  to  that  mat- 
ter cannot  but  influence  our  attitude  toward  the  trust- 
worthiness of  current  versions.  A  thirsty  traveller 
will  readily  drink  from  a  brook  by  the  wayside  if  he 
can  trace  its  flow  upward  to  a  clear  fountain  in  the 
high  hills.  He  knows  that  the  slight  impurities  due  to 
the  wearing  of  its  banks  have  not  impaired  its  whole- 
someness.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  were  uncertain 
as  to  whether  its  origin  were  in  a  spring  or  a  cesspool 
he  would  hesitate  until  he  found  out. 

Our  third  answer  is,  that  the  discrepancies  in  cur- 
rent versions  are  of  such  a  character  as  to  furnish  pre- 
sumptive proof  of  the  entire  correctness  of  the  origi- 
nals. It  would  naturally  be  supposed  that  a  book  of 
such  antiquity  and  of  such  complex  composition  would 
suffer  all  sorts  of  disastrous  changes  in  coming  down 
the  ages.  Think  of  the  tens  of  thousands  of  hands 
through  which  it  has  passed;  of  the  copies  made  by 
the  ancient  Scribes  with  infinite  pains ;  of  the  number- 
less transcriptions  by  mediaeval  monks  in  their  lonely 
cells ;  of  the  translations  into  half  a  thousand  lan- 
guages and  dialects.  What  possibilities  of  error !  For 
be  it  remembered,  all  these  transcribers  and  translators 
were  fallible  men.  Think  of  the  temptation  on  their 
part  to  interpolate  their  personal  views  in  the  body  of 
the  inspired  text,  or  to  eliminate  what  did  not  please 
them.  Think  what  sort  of  a  Bible  we  would  have 
if  these  transcribers  and  translators  had  been  such  as 


ITS  TRUSTWORTHINESS  75 

the  "  higher  critics  "  of  our  time ;  such,  for  example, 
as  those  so-called  "  Biblical  experts  "  who,  travailing 
once  like  the  mountain  in  the  proverb,  brought  forth 
that  grotesquerie  known  as  "  The  Polychrome  Bible." 
Think  of  these  possibilities,  and  then  look  at  the  Scrip- 
tures as  they  are  in  the  current  versions  of  to-day. 

The  marvel  is  not  that  there  are  variations  and  dis- 
crepancies here,  but  that  they  are  so  trivial  and  insig- 
nificant. They  are  indeed  of  such  a  character  as  to 
convince  any  candid  mind  that  they  had  no  place  in 
the  original  autograph  but  have  crept  into  the  text  in 
the  process  of  transmission  along  the  ages. 

Singular  to  relate,  there  is  none  that  affects  in  the 
slightest  degree  the  integrity  of  the  doctrine  and 
ethics  of  the  Book.  If  the  destructive  critics  are  taken 
at  their  word  the  Bible  is  full  of  frightful  errors ;  its 
prophecies  have  failed,  its  history  is  unhistorical,  its 
science  is  unscientific  and  its  chronicles  are  myths.  It 
need  scarcely  be  said  that,  so  far  from  being  a  true 
statement  of  the  case,  not  a  single  error  has  yet  been 
indicated  which  cannot  be  most  reasonably  explained 
as  either  purely  imaginary  or  unimportant.  But  here 
is  a  marvellous  thing:  these  enemies  of  Scripture  are 
themselves  insistent  with  one  consent,  that  the  errors 
in  the  Bible  which  they  so  loudly  exploit,  do  not  in 
any  degree  impair  the  integrity  of  its  doctrinal  system 
and  ethical  code! 

These  things  being  so,  we  are  warranted  in  conclud- 
ing that  the  inspired  Book  has  in  some  manner  been 
singularly  safeguarded  in  its  transmission  along  the 
centuries.  The  same  gracious  God  who  protected  his 
secretaries — those  ''  holy  men  who  wrote  as  they  were 


76  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

moved  by  his  Spirit " — from  all  possibility  of  error 
in  the  original  autograph,  has  apparently  by  a  special 
Providence  so  protected  the  flying  scroll  in  its  journey 
down  to  us,  that  transcribers  and  translators  have  left 
an  "  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice  "  in  the  ver- 
sions now  current  among  men. 

If  it  be  urged  again  that  we  are  not  practically  con- 
cerned with  the  original  autograph,  inasmuch  as  no 
living  man  has  ever  seen  it;  we  observe  that  a  like 
objection  could  be  offered  against  Christ  himself  with 
equal  force  on  precisely  the  same  grounds.  The  objec- 
tion proves  either  too  little  or  too  much.  No  living 
man  has  ever  seen  the  Incarnate  Word  of  God.  He 
lived  only  thirty-three  years  in  this  world  of  ours  and 
then  vanished  from  sight.  The  only  knowledge  that 
we  have  of  him,  apart  from  the  Scriptures,  is  through 
his  followers;  for  every  Christian  is,  so  to  speak,  a 
current  version  of  the  Incarnate  Word.  Christ,  like 
the  Bible,  has  suffered  by  transcription  through  the 
ages. 

It  is  nevertheless  of  supreme  importance  that  we 
should  believe  that  Christ,  as  he  once  lived  on  earth, 
was  the  perfect  Son  of  God.  The  very  mistakes  of 
believers,  in  their  earnest  yet  inadequate  efforts  to  copy 
his  life  and  character,  are  evidences  of  his  perfection. 
We  are  ever  striving  to  get  back  to  the  original 
Christ ;  precisely  as  reverent  students  of  the  Scriptures 
seek,  by  both  textual  and  historical  criticism,  to  reach 
the  "  original  text,"  that  is,  the  "  first  edition  "  of  the 
written  Word  of  God. 


X 

ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  PERSONAL  LIFE 

THE  ultimate  test  of  life  and  character  was  aptly 
set  forth  by  our  Lord  and  Saviour  in  the 
words,  ''  Ye  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits." 
And  the  question  which  followed  was  one  that  appealed 
to  the  common-sense  of  all,  "  Do  men  gather  grapes 
of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles  ?  " 

Certainly  not.  .  If  a  man  wants  a  cluster  of  grapes 
he  will  go  to  a  vineyard  for  it  and  not  to  a  thicket  of 
thorns.  Or  if  he  is  searching  for  figs  he  will  go  not 
to  Scotland,  ''  the  land  of  the  thistle,"  but  to  Arabia, 
the  garden  of  figs. 

Why  so?  Because  like  produces  like.  This  is  one 
of  Nature's  laws.  ''  And  God  said.  Let  the  earth 
bring  forth  grass,  the  herb  yielding  seed  and  the  fruit 
tree  yielding  fruit  after  its  kind,  whose  seed  is  in 
itself ;  and  it  was  so." 

Here  is  the  criterion  by  which  we  determine  between 
brambles  and  berry-bushes,  i.e.  between  the  false  and 
the  true.  The  law  works  invariably,  in  every  depart- 
ment of  human  life  and  observation :  and  it  furnishes 
a  canon  of  judgment  by  which  to  test  infallibly  the 
moral  quality  of  things. 

Suppose  now  the  Bible  be  judged  in  that  way. 

There  are  millions  of  books  in  circulation.  At  a 
table  so  munificently  furnished  the.  judicious  reader 

77 


78  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

will  not  eat  at  random  but  pick  and  choose,  selecting 
what  is  best  for  him.  The  test  question  is,  "  What 
is  the  fruit  of  this  or  that  book  ?  Does  it  lighten  life's 
burdens  with  innocent  mirth?  Does  it  inform  the 
mind?  Does  it  clarify  the  conscience?  Does  it 
strengthen  the  will  that  makes  for  a  noble  life?  Will 
it  enable  me  to  contribute  to  the  betterment  of  the 
world  I  am  living  in?  And  does  it  furnish  the  right 
sort  of  preparation  for  the  life  further  on  ?  " 

It  has  been  the  fashion  of  late  to  publish  lists  of 
''  the  World's  Greatest  Books  " ;  that  is,  of  those  which 
have  most  deeply  and  broadly  influenced  life  and  char- 
acter. It  might  be  supposed  that  all  would  agree  on 
Chaucer's  "  Canterbury  Tales,"  Raleigh's  ''  History  of 
the  World,"  Sir  Thomas  More's  ''Utopia,"  Locke's 
''  On  the  Human  Understanding,"  Bunyan's  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress,"  Newton's  "  Principia,"  Walton's 
"  Compleat  Angler,"  Sir  Thomas  Browne's  ''  Hydrio- 
taphia,"  Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost,"  Butler's  "  Anal- 
ogy," Boswell's  "  Life  of  Johnson,"  "  The  Letters  of 
Junius,"  Spenser's  ''  Faerie  Queen,"  and  Gibbon's 
"  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  " ;  but  there 
is  a  wide  difference  of  opinion  concerning  even  these. 

Here,  however,  is  a  singular  fact:  no  matter  how 
many  such  lists  are  prepared  or  who  prepares  them 
you  will  invariably  find  them  including  one  book, 
namely,  the  Bible.  This  fact  is  worth  emphasizing, 
because  it  indicates  a  practical  consensus  of  opinion 
that  this  particular  Book  is  likely  to  do  good,  inasmuch 
as  it  has  been  doing  good  and  only  good  all  the  days 
of  its  life  thus  far. 

It  is  frequently  said  of  the  Bible  that,  in  order  to 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  PERSONAL  LIFE       79 

arrive  at  a  fair  judgment  respecting  its  merits,  we 
must  criticize  it  like  other  books.  For  the  sake  of 
the  argument  again,  so  be  it.  Here  is  the  criterion: 
'*  By  its  fruits  ye  shall  know  it." 

And  fortunately  its  fruits  are  known.  History 
furnishes  abundant  data  for  a  comparison  of  its  influ- 
ence with  that  of  other  books.  The  fact  that  it  exists 
at  all  is  an  illustration  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
and  therefore  a  tribute  to  its  excellence.  The  reason 
why  it  survives  is  because  it  is  the  one  book  which 
the  world  and  the  centuries,  familiar  with  its  power, 
would  not  willingly  let  die. 

What  is  its  influence  on  individual  character?  In 
other  words,  what  sort  of  men  and  women  does  it 
make  ?  Call  the  roll  of  the  mighties ;  the  noble  army 
of  martyrs;  pioneers  of  truth;  philanthropists;  public 
benefactors  like  Howard  and  Wilberf orce ;  philoso- 
phers like  Locke  and  Bacon;  scientists  like  Newton 
and  Faraday ;  reformers  like  Luther  and  Knox ;  mis- 
sionaries like  Xavier  and  Livingstone;  statesmen  like 
William  the  Silent  and  Washington  and  Lincoln; 
poets  like  Milton ;  historians  like  Guizot ;  scholars  like 
the  learned  Grotius.  The  time  would  fail  me  to  tell 
of  those  who,  drawing  their  inspiration  from  this 
Book,  have  written  their  names  in  the  memory  and 
gratitude  of  men. 

But  we,  being  humble  folk,  are  more  concerned  with 
the  fruit  of  the  Bible  as  tested  in  the  life  and  character 
of  the  average  man.  How  about  your  own  father  and 
mother,  who  loved  the  Book  and  adjusted  their  lives 
to  it?  Or  how  about  your  friends  and  neighbours 
who  profess  to  believe  and  practise  it  ?    Do  they  seem 


80  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

to  be  helped  or  hurt  by  their  devotion  to  its  precepts  ? 
Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  man  or  woman  who  was 
demoralized  by  it  ?  Are  there  any  better  people  in  the 
world  than  those  who  consistently  live  up  to  it?  Do 
you  know  of  anybody  who  ever  plucked  apples  of 
Sodom  from  the  branches  of  this  tree  ? 

"  By  its  fruits  ye  shall  know  it." 

Suppose  we  apply  this  criterion  of  judgment  to  other 
so-called  sacred  books. 

If  you  would  know  the  influence  of  the  Analects  of 
Confucius  look  at  the  Chinese.  One  who  has  lived  in 
that  country  for  many  years  says,  "  There  is  no  mode 
of  deception  or  fraud  in  which  these  people  are  not 
adepts.  Lying  is  so  common  that  they  have  almost 
lost  the  consciousness  that  it  is  wrong.  Quarrelling, 
slandering  and  cursing,  intrigues  and  brawls,  are  uni- 
versal. Theft,  extortion,  robbery  and  piracy,  suicide, 
infanticide  and  murder,  lotteries,  gambling  shops  and 
opium  dens  are  common  everywhere."  How  could  it 
be  otherwise  when  Confucianism,  distinctly  a  moral 
and  not  a  religious  system,  avowedly  takes  no  cog- 
nizance of  God? 

If  you  would  know  the  fruits  of  the  Vedas  look  at 
the  Brahmans  of  India,  among  whom  there  is  an  open, 
shameless  and  prevalent  disregard  of  practically  all  the 
deep-founded  and  eternal  distinctions  between  right 
and  wrong.  The  Abbe  du  Bois  says,  "  I  have  never 
seen  a  religious  procession  in  India  without  its  pre- 
senting to  me  the  image  of  hell."  The  holiest  of 
Brahmans  is  the  twice-born  Yogi,  who  sits  by  the 
roadside  naked,  with  hair  uncombed  and  the  Vedas 
before  him.    His  body  is  smeared  with  ashes  and  dung. 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  PERSONAL  LIFE       81 

Ask  him  what  he  is  doing,  and  he  will  tell  you  he  is 
*'  losing  himself  in  the  ineffable  One."  His  cabalistic 
sentence  is  ''  I  am  God !  I  am  God !  "  He  lives  use- 
lessly and  dies  stolidly  with  that  blasphemy  on  his 
lips. 

If  you  would  know  the  fruits  of  the  Tripitaka  be- 
hold them  exemplified  in  the  life  and  character  of  the 
Buddhists.  The  central  thought  of  their  philosophy  is 
expressed  in  the  term  Nirvana,  which  means  the  ulti- 
mate extinction  of  personality,  as  the  perfume  of  the 
lotus  flower  is  exhaled  in  air  or  as  a  drop  of  water 
sinks  into  the  sea.  They  thus  profess  to  believe  in 
immortality;  but  who  cares  to  be  immortal  when  he 
does  not  know  it?  The  result  is  apparent,  says  a 
writer,  "  in  the  cities  of  the  dead,  where  tens  of  thou- 
sands lie  unburied  waiting  for  a  lucky  day ;  in  the  ring- 
ing of  gongs  and  discharging  of  fireworks  to  keep 
away  the  evil  spirits ;  in  the  incantations  over  the  sick 
and  honours  paid  to  dead  beggars  to  propitiate  their 
ghosts;  and  in  the  pampering  of  monkeys  and  sacred 
pigs,  as  a  work  of  merit,  while  men  and  women  die 
of  starvation  in  the  streets." 

Would  you  know  the  character  of  the  Koran  ?  Read 
it  in  the  light  of  the  recent  massacres  in  Turkey.  The 
three  outstanding  facts  of  Islam  are  War,  Slavery  and 
Sensuality.  The  Sword,  the  Auction  Block  and  the 
Harem !  What  would  you  expect  to  pluck  from  Mo- 
hammed's tree?  Its  legitimate  fruit  is  barbarism.  Its 
mosques  are  planted  in  the  regions  of  darkness  and 
the  shadow  of  death. 

Would  you  know  the  Bible,  now  ?  Test  it  under  the 
same  law  of  fruitage. 


8^  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

It  proposes  to  save  men  from  the  penalty  and  power 
of  sin.  Of  all  the  religions  of  the  world  this  is  the 
only  one  that  suggests  the  possibility  of  blotting  out  a 
mislived  past  and  so  removing  the  handicap  of  hope 
and  aspiration. 

It  proposes  also  to  sanctify  the  forgiven  sinner  or, 
in  other  words,  to  build  up  his  character  in  truth  and 
righteousness.  And  this  it  does  by  placing  him  under 
the  transforming  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Thus  the  Bible  develops  character.  Who  shall  ex- 
plain the  subtle  metaphysical  force  in  this  Book  which 
somehow  gets  hold  of  the  lingering  possibilities  in  the 
soul  of  a  reprobate  and  transforms  him,  changes  his 
heart  and  conscience  and  will,  so  making  a  new  man 
of  him? 

Has  any  other  book  such  power?  Does  the  Koran 
or  the  Zendavesta  transform  men  in  this  manner  and 
set  their  faces  toward  righteousness  and  heaven  and 
God?  An  old  Highlander  once  said  to  Claudius 
Buchanan,  *'  I  cannot  argue  with  you ;  I  cannot  present 
theological  facts  or  reasons;  I  cannot  explain  the 
philosophy  of  revelation;  but  I  know  this,  that  when 
I  was  a  man  of  evil  character  the  Bible  got  hold  of 
me  and  quelled  the  tiger  in  me !  "  There  is  the  master 
fact;  this  Book  makes  men.  The  best  people,  here, 
there,  everywhere  and  always,  are  those  who  believe 
in  the  Bible  and  live  that  way. 

If  this  fact  be  called  in  question  let  us  put  it  to  a 
practical  test.  Take  the  ''  Charities  Directory  of  the 
City  of  New  York."  This  is  a  compendium  of  above 
ten  thousand  organized  forms  of  charity;  and  the 
singular  fact  is  that  these  beneficences  are  practically 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  PERSONAL  LIFE   83 

all  carried  on  by  friends  of  the  Bible.  The  exceptions 
are  so  few  that  they  can  be  enumerated  on  the  fingers 
of  a  dozen  men. 

The  critics  of  the  Bible  and  of  religious  people  pro- 
fess to  be  doing  wonders  for  the  regeneration  of  so- 
ciety, but  they  are  doing  nothing  of  the  sort.  Words, 
words,  loud  boastful  words!  By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them. 

Not  that  the  friends  of  the  Bible  are  above  criticism. 
On  the  contrary  they  are  vulnerable  at  many  points  and 
nobody  knows  it  better  than  themselves.  They  do  not 
claim  to  be  good  people,  but  only  trying  to  be  good  and 
finding  it  no  easy  task.  The  really  *'  good  "  people  are 
all  outside  pointing  their  fingers  at  them.  And  mean- 
while these  derided  folk  are  serving  the  world  fairly 
well. 

This  is  a  point  to  be  emphasized  in  view  of  the 
frequent  strictures  which  are  passed  upon  religious 
people  for  their  alleged  indifference  to  the  demands 
of  social  service.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  hear 
outsiders  say,  "  You  churchmen  and  Bible  folk  are  so 
devoted  to  other  worldiness  that  you  care  little  or  noth- 
ing for  the  sufferings  of  people  here  and  now.  While 
you  are  sending  Bibles  to  Borria-boola-gha  the  needy 
are  clamorous  all  about  you.  Why  don't  you  feed  the 
hungry  and  clothe  the  naked  and  do  something  to  make 
this  world  a  better  place  to  live  in  ?  " 

It  would  naturally  be  supposed  that  people  who  talk 
that  way  would  themselves  be  very  busily  engaged  in 
advancing  the  temporal  welfare  of  their  fellow-men; 
but  statistics  and  observation  do  not  point  that  w^ay. 
There  are,  it  is  true,  individual  cases  of  philanthropy 


84*  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

among  the  non-religious;  but  the  exceptions  are  rela- 
tively so  few  and  individually  so  conspicuous  as  merely 
to  prove  the  rule  referred  to. 

Christian  philanthropy,  however,  is  differentiated 
from  secular  philanthropy  by  the  fact  that  it  does  not 
concern  itself  exclusively  for  the  temporal  welfare  of 
men.  It  does  not  confine  itself  to  that  small  arc  of  the 
great  circle  which  is  called  time,  but  deals  with  man 
as  an  immortal  being.  It  reasons  on  this  wise, ''  While 
it  devolves  upon  me  to  smoothe  the  earthly  pathway 
of  man  as  far  as  possible,  my  supreme  effort  must 
always  be  devoted  to  his  preparation  for  the  unending 
aeons  of  existence  that  await  him.  Wherefore,  while 
I  minister  to  his  physical  needs  I  must  never  forget 
the  demands  of  his  immortal  soul."  This  is  the 
philosophy  of  "  a  loaf  of  bread  wrapped  in  a  tract." 
This  is  why  the  call,  "  Come  to  Jesus  "  can  never  lose 
its  timeliness.  One  who  accepts  the  teaching  of  the 
Scriptures  must  needs  believe  that  eternity  is  longer 
than  time  and  formulate  his  life  accordingly.  There- 
fore the  reproach  of  ''  other  worldiness  "  is  not  well 
taken.  The  best  man  is  the  man  who  lives  with  eternity 
in  view;  and  that  not  only  for  himself  but  for  the 
next  man.  And  this  is  the  sort  of  man  that  the  Bible 
makes;  a  far-seeing,  right-living,  man-loving  man. 

The  friends  of  the  Bible,  take  them  by  and  large, 
are  the  best  people  in  the  world.  If  that  statement  be 
challenged,  again  let  us  test  it.  Take  a  hundred  at 
random  from  among  those  who  profess  to  believe  in 
the  Bible  and  strive  to  conform  their  lives  to  it;  then 
take  another  hundred  at  random  from  those  who  re- 
ject the  teachings  of  the  Book;  and  place  them  in  oppo- 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  PERSONAL  LIFE      85 

site  lines  for  comparison.  We  will  cheerfully  abide 
the  issue. 

On  the  one  hand,  among  the  unbelievers  you  will 
certainly  find  many  who  are  notoriously  wrong  livers. 
Horace  Greeley  once  remarked  that  while  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  opposing  political  party  were  not  horse- 
thieves  he  was  prepared  to  say  that  all  horse-thieves 
belonged  to  it.  In  like  manner  while  it  is  not  claimed 
that  all  those  who  hate  the  Bible  are  conspicuously 
disreputable,  it  goes  without  saying  that  all  notorious 
reprobates  of  every  sort — rogues,  rum-sellers,  corrupt 
demagogues,  enemies  of  society  and  government — are 
opposed  to  the  Scriptures. 

On  the  other  hand,  your  hundred  lovers  of  the 
Bible  stand  solidly  for  everything  that  makes  for  a 
square  deal  in  this  present  world,  for  the  uplift  of  the 
community  and  the  defence  of  law  and  order,  for  the 
betterment  of  men  not  only  here  but  hereafter.  It  is 
alleged  that  there  are  hypocrites  among  them.  But 
why  should  attention  be  called  to  this  fact?  Do  we 
ever  hear  of  spurious  atheists  or  infidels?  Why  not? 
Because  imitation  in  such  cases  would  not  be  worth 
while.  Men  do  not  counterfeit  leather  medals  but 
golden  eagles. 

And  why,  when  a  Christian  falls  from  grace,  should 
he  be  pilloried  for  it?  The  fingers  of  the  people  are 
pointed  at  him.  The  newspapers  blazon  his  guilt  in 
such  headlines  as  "ANOTHER  DEACON  GONE 
WRONG."  Are  atheists,  infidels,  Bible-haters  treated 
in  that  manner?  If  one  of  them  offends  against 
morality  is  he  pilloried  for  it?  Do  the  newspapers 
ever  announce  "ANOTHER  INFIDEL  IN   THE 


86  WHY  J  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

MESHES  OF  THE  LAW"?  Why  not?  Because 
the  world  recognizes  the  logical  fitness  of  things.  It 
knows  that  when  a  man  without  religious  principle 
offends  against  the  foundations  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness he  does  only  what  is  expected  of  him.  But  when 
a  Christian  is  inconsistent  he  offends  not  only  against 
Christ  but  against  public  opinion:  since  everybody 
knows  what  a  Christian  ought  to  be. 

We  do  not  undertake  to  explain  the  metaphysical 
force  in  the  Bible — the  force  that  is  likened  to  a  two- 
edged  sword  which  divides  asunder  the  soul  and  spirit 
of  a  man — but  conversion  is  a  fact,  an  indisputable 
fact.  The  Chancellor  of  Queen  Candace  was  converted 
by  reading  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah;  and  cen- 
turies later  Lord  Rochester,  a  virulent  infidel,  was  con- 
verted by  reading  the  same.  This  sort  of  thing  is  going 
on  all  the  time.  Has  any  other  book  such  power  ?  Do 
the  Shastras,  the  Zendavesta,  the  Koran  or  the  Ana- 
lects of  Confucius  turn  men  about,  reform  them,  trans- 
form them  and  set  their  faces  towards  the  better  life? 

This  then  is  the  master  fact;  the  Bible  makes  men. 
The  poet  Alexander  Pope,  himself  an  unbeliever,  on 
being  asked  to  define  a  Christian,  made  this  brief 
answer,  "  A  Christian  is  the  highest  style  of  man."  If 
this  be  true,  it  is  only  rational  to  conclude  that  it  is 
his  devotion  to  the  principles  contained  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  which  makes  him  so. 


XI 

ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  NATIONAL  LIFE 

THE  three  world  powers  to-day  are  America  and 
England  and  Germany,  with  others  forging  to 
the  front. 

As  for  England  it  was  publicly  affirmed  by  Queen 
Victoria  that  the  Bible  was  ''  the  secret  of  its  great- 
ness." 

As  for  Germany,  at  the  close  of  the  Franco-Prussian 
War  it  was  declared  by  Pere  Hyacinthe  to  his  people 
that  the  reason  for  their  calamitous  defeat  lay  in  the 
fact  that  they  were  irreligious,  while  every  German 
soldier  had  a  Bible  in  his  knapsack. 

As  for  America,  its  whole  constitutional  fabric  is 
permeated  with  the  teachings  of  the  divine  Word. 

Of  the  other  nations  now  most  rapidly  coining  to  the 
front  Japan  stands  foremost.  A  dozen  years  ago  a 
Japanese  student  asked  to  be  enrolled  as  a  member  of 
the  church  to  which  I  minister.  His  name  is  still  upon 
its  roster.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  post-graduate 
course  at  Columbia  University  he  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws.  On  the  eve  of  his  departure  to 
his  native  country  he  left  with  me  his  Japanese  Bible 
as  a  token  of  friendship.  I  said  to  him,  *'  Are  you 
going  back  to  advocate  the  teachings  of  that  Book?" 
His  answer  was :  "  I  love  my  country.  We  want  your 
light,  your  freedom,  your  constitutional  rights.     We 

87 


88  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

want  your  western  civilization ;  and  I  am  satisfied  that 
we  cannot  have  it  without  taking  the  Bible  along  with 
it."  That  man  is  now  one  of  the  foremost  and  best 
known  publicists  of  Japan,  and  he  still  remains  a  firm 
believer  in  the  Word  of  God. 

The  consummate  fruit  of  Christianity  is  Civilization. 
Take  a  map  of  the  world  and  draw  a  line  around  so 
much  of  its  territory  as  has  felt  the  benign  influence 
of  the  Gospel ;  and  you  have  enclosed  substantially  all 
its  light,  humanity  and  civilization.  The  lands  which 
you  have  circumscribed  are  significantly  known  as 
"  Christendom."  This  enclosed  area  is  so  called  be- 
cause it  embraces  every  region  which,  having  the 
Scriptures,  has  prospered  under  the  luminous  shadow 
of  the  Cross.  All  outside  is  darkness  and  barbarism. 
All  within  is  light  and  progress.  This  is  what  the 
Bible  has  done ;  this  is  what  the  Bible  is  doing. 

"  By  its  fruits  ye  shall  know  it." 

It  will  not  be  amiss  to  revert  more  particularly,  at 
this  point,  to  our  own  country  as  one  of  the  consum- 
mate fruits  of  the  Scripture.  It  is  not  enough  to  recall 
its  original  baptism  as  San  Salvador,  "  The  Land  of 
the  Saviour,"  nor  will  it  suffice  to  eulogize  our  fore- 
fathers as  Christian  men.  The  important  fact  is  that 
the  great  principles  which  underlie  our  Government 
are  Bible  principles,  so  distinctly  so  that  our  welfare 
and  destiny  are  involved  in  our  loyalty  to  them. 

The  first  of  these  principles  is  the  Rights  of  Man, 
as  formulated  in  the  word  "  equality,"  which  is  the 
antithesis  of  caste.  The  proposition  which  differen- 
tiates our  Republic  not  only  from  all  monarchies  but 
from  all  other  so-called  "  Constitutional  governments  " 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  NATIONAL  LIFE        89 

is  laid  down  in  the  Preamble  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  as  a  self-evident  fact,  to  wit,  "  all  men 
are  created  free  and  equal  with  certain  inalienable 
rights,  such  as  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  hap- 
piness."   Whence  came  that  proposition? 

At  the  time  when  the  King  James  version  of  the 
Scriptures  was  put  forth  the  doctrine  of  human  equal- 
ity was  less  real  than  a  vision  of  the  night.  Man  as 
man  was  scarcely  thought  of.  The  people  were  mere 
flies  and  earth-worms  in  the  sight  of  His  Majesty  and 
the  Titled  Orders.  It  is  true  Magna  Charta  had  been 
signed  some  centuries  before;  but  Magna  Charta  was 
no  symbol  of  popular  rights.  The  people  had  no  part 
nor  lot  in  it.  In  fact  there  were  no  People.  The 
barons  made  their  demands  on  John  Lackland  and  his 
answer  was  simply  a  concession  of  baronial  rights. 
The  last  man  to  recognize  the  people  was  the  royal 
patron  of  the  King  James  version.  It  was  he  who 
exiled  Andrew  Melville  for  insisting  on  the  right  of 
public  assemblage  in  Scotland.  All  praise  to  Melville, 
who  on  that  occasion  dared  to  pluck  his  sovereign  by 
the  sleeve,  saying,  "  Sire,  thou  dost  forget  that  there 
hath  been  born  in  Scotland  of  late  a  King  before  whom 
all  the  Stuarts  must  needs  doff  their  bonnets."  And 
when  James  inquired  who  that  might  be,  he  calmly 
answered,  "  King  People,  Sire !  "  To  the  truth  of  that 
prophecy  the  constitutional  government  of  Great 
Britain  bears  testimony  in  these  better  days. 

So  far  as  the  rights  of  the  people  have  been  realized 
in  these  centuries  it  is  in  pursuance  of  the  teaching  of 
Scripture,  where  every  man  is  represented  as  being,  by 
virtue  of  his  divine  birthright,  the  equal  of  his  fellow- 


90  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

man.  The  manifesto  of  Paul  on  Mars'  Hill,  "  God  hath 
made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth,"  struck  the  keynote  for  the 
future.  The  bell  that  rang  from  Independence  Hall, 
"  All  men  are  created  free  and  equal  "  was  but  a  clear, 
distant  echo  of  it. 

The  second  of  the  great  ideas  which  underlie  our 
Republic  is  the  Sanctity  of  Law,  as  formulated  in  the 
word,  **  government,"  which  is  the  antithesis  of  per- 
sonal independence. 

The  basis  of  social  order  is  the  just  recognition  by 
every  man  of  the  rights  of  his  fellow-men.  One  who 
dwells  alone  in  the  desert  may  do  as  he  pleases;  but 
if  another  join  him  his  personal  freedom  is  so  far 
forth  abridged  as  that  he  is  now  free  only  to  do  that 
which  does  not  trespass  on  the  freedom  of  the  other 
man.  As  still  others  arrive  there  comes  to  be  a  com- 
pact; that  social  compact  is  government,  whose  basis 
is  law. 

The  Scriptures  stand  for  law.  The  two  great  ethical 
symbols  of  the  world  are  the  Decalogue  and  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount.  Out  of  the  former  has  grown  the 
jurisprudence  of  all  civilized  nations;  out  of  the  latter 
has  developed  the  true  theory  of  social  rights.  The 
civilization  of  any  people  is  precisely  measured  by  their 
regard  for  the  sanctity  of  law  on  the  one  hand,  and 
for  the  well-being  of  the  individual  on  the  other.  The 
best  illustration  of  good, citizenship  in  the  history  of 
the  world  was  witnessed  in  the  passion  of  Christ,  who 
yielded  unmurmuringly  to  the  unjust  decree  of  "  the 
powers  that  be,"  because  they  were  "  ordained  of 
God,"  and  in  his  vicarious  death  in  our  behalf  set 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  NATIONAL  LIFE       91 

forth  the  perfect  excellence  of  the  Golden  Rule, 
"  Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  be  done  by." 

The  third  of  our  great  national  propositions  is  the 
Voluntary  Principle  in  Religion:  which  is  formulated 
in  the  word  "  non-conformity,"  the  antithesis  of  which 
is  the  uniformity  of  a  political  church. 

The  policy  of  James  I  was  to  require  all  men  to 
think  alike  in  religious  things.  He  knew  only  the 
Establishment.  He  hated  the  Catholics,  despised  the 
Puritans  and  consistently  maligned  the  Presbyterians. 
He  exiled  John  Robinson  and  his  associates  for  refus- 
ing to  pray  according  to  the  prescribed  form  or  kneel 
at  the  lifting  of  the  mass.  How  far  yon  little  candle 
throws  its  beams!  The  time  was  coming  when  that 
same  John  Robinson  would  go  down  to  Delft  Haven 
and  give  godspeed  to  the  Mayflower  with  her  cargo 
of  Puritans  setting  out  for  the  JMew  World  in  search 
of  freedom  to  worship  God. 

To  the  mind  of  James  these  men  were  "  dissenters." 
The  word  is  a  reproach  to  thinking  men  as  it  is  an 
offence  to  the  gracious  God.  He  puts  no  thumb-screws 
on  the  conscience.  We  are  free  to  believe  or  disbe- 
lieve; free  to  obey  or  to  disobey  and  take  the  conse- 
quences ;  free  to  be  saved  or  to  be  lost.  He  draws  us 
only  with  ''  the  cords  of  a  man." 

"  Though  God  be  good  and  free  be  heaven, 

No  force  divine  can  love  compel : 
And  though  the  song  of  sins  forgiven 

Should  ring  through  lowest  hell, 
The  sweet  persuasion  of  his  Voice 

Respects  our  sanctity  of  will : 
He  giveth  day :  thou  hast  thy  choice 

To  walk  in  darkness  still." 


92  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

The  fourth  of  the  great  Scriptural  ideas  is  one 
which  has  not  yet  found  its  reahzation  in  our  Republic ; 
that  is  the  duty  of  Communication,  as  it  is  written, 
"  To  do  good  and  to  communicate,  forget  not."  This 
finds  its  best  expression  in  universal  evangelization, 
which  is  the  antithesis  of  war. 

There  are  two  means  of  conquest,  and  two  only: 
namely.  War  and  the  Word.  "  Go  fight !  Go  conquer ! 
Go  slay !  "  cry  the  Great  Powers ;  and  the  earth  shakes 
with  the  footfall  of  mobilized  armies.  "  Go  preach !  " 
says  Christ;  and  behold,  how  beautiful  upon  the 
mountains  are  the  feet  of  them  that  publish  peace ! 

In  this  great  Bible  truth  we  find  the  secret  of  the 
ultimate  restoration  of  the  world  to  God.  "  Put  up  thy 
sword  into  the  sheath,"  said  Jesus,  "  for  they  that  take 
the  sword  shall  perish  by  it."  Wrong,  error,  barbarism 
and  all  the  forces  that  make  for  impiety  and  inhuman- 
ity are  destined  to  yield  to  the  expulsive  power  of  truth 
and  righteousness,  as  shadows  flee  before  the  rising  of 
the  sun.  The  key  to  the  future  is  in  the  promise,  "  My 
Word  shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but  it  shall  accom- 
plish that  which  I  please  and  prosper  in  the  thing 
whereto  I  sent  it." 

At  the  gateway  of  America  stands  a  colossal  statue 
of  "  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World."  If  the  Bible 
were  substituted  for  the  torch  in  the  uplifted  hand  of 
the  Goddess  of  Liberty  we  should  have  a  true  parable 
of  the  obligation  due  from  our  Christian  republic  to 
the  unchristianized  peoples  of  the  earth.  We  speak  of 
our  country  as  "  God's  country  " ;  and  surely  he  hath 
not  dealt  so  with  any  people :  but  the  principles  which 
dominate  our  national  life  are  like  loaves  which  are 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  NATIONAL  LIFE        93 

best  enjoyed  by  sharing  them  with  others.  Wherefore 
it  behooves  us  to  send  the  Bible,  the  divine  source  of 
our  prosperity,  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 
So  shall  we,  in  the  spirit  of  a  larger  patriotism,  justify 
the  otherwise  selfish  sentiment  of  our  national  hymn : 

"  Our  fathers'  God,  to  thee, 
Author  of  liberty, 
To  thee  we  sing : 
Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
With  freedom's  holy  light ; 
Protect  us  by  thy  might, 
Great  God,  our  King !  " 


XII 
ITS  PLACE  IN  THE  FOREFRONT  OF  EVENTS 

THE  keynote  of  modern  progress  was  struck  by 
Wiclif,  A.D.  1380.  In  the  Museum  at  Prague 
there  is  a  symbolical  picture  of  the  Reforma- 
tion as  a  fagot-fire  to  which  Wiclif  is  applying  the 
torch.  His  watchword  was,  "  Let  us  get  back  to  the 
Bible !  "  The  search-warrant  which  Christ  himself 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  people  when  He  said, 
*'  Search  the  Scriptures,"  had  been  snatched  away  and 
appropriated  by  the  Pope  and  hierarchy.  So  far  as  the 
people  were  concerned  the  Bible  had  long  been  a 
closed  book,  kept  in  cloisters  or  chained  to  the  high- 
altars  of  cathedrals.  When  given  to  the  multitudes  it 
was  recited  in  an  unknown  tongue.  Wiclif  said,  "  I 
will  translate  the  Scriptures  into  the  vernacular;  so 
that  every  ploughboy  may  read  them  as  he  toils 
among  the  furrows."  His  Bible  on  being  published 
was  immediately  placed  in  the  Index  Expurgatorius. 
He  himself  was  persecuted  to  the  death  and  after ;  for 
by  order  of  the  Council  of  Constance  his  bones  were 
burned  and  their  ashes  cast  upon  the  river  which  car- 
ried them  to  the  sea.  But  the  keynote  of  Protestantism 
had  been  struck :  "  A  true  Bible  and  an  open  one !  " 

In  that  same  picture  of  the  bonfire  at  Prague  there 
is  another  man  blowing  the  flame.  This  is  Luther,  who 
nailed  the  ninety-five  theses  of  Protestantism  to  the 

94 


ITS  PLACE  IN  THE  FOREFRONT       95 

chapel  door  at  Wittenberg,  a.d.  15 17.  While  still  in 
monastic  orders  he  had  happened  upon  a  volume  of 
the  Scriptures.  He  knew  them  only  as  a  forbidden 
book.  He  read  it  furtively  until  he  came  to  the  place 
where  it  is  written,  "  There  is  none  other  name  under 
heaven,  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be 
saved."  Meanwhile  he  had  grown  lean  and  haggard. 
The  friars  saluted  him,  "  Good  appetite,  brother  Mar- 
tin " ;  but  the  refectory  had  no  charms  for  him.  He 
returned  again  and  again  to  the  forbidden  book.  Pres- 
ently he  read,  "  By  the  deeds  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh 
be  justified."  The  peril  of  his  spiritual  state  over- 
whelmed him.  At  length  he  came  upon  the  words, 
"  What  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak 
through  the  flesh,  God,  sending  his  own  Son  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and  for  sin  condemned  sin  in 
the  flesh."    Then  the  light  began  to  break! 

He  betook  himself  to  Rome.  Great  were  his  antici- 
pations; a  sore  disappointment  awaited  him.  He  had 
hoped  to  see  the  holy  brethren  serving  God  In  vows 
of  poverty  and  self-denial;  he  found  a  company  of 
priests  with  round  bodies  and  rubicund  faces,  dwelling 
in  sumptuous  halls  and  imbibing  the  stores  of  famous 
wine-cellars.  He  looked  for  hair-cloth;  and  behold, 
purple  and  fine  linen,  wealth,  splendour  and  luxury. 
Here  were  churches,  marvels  of  architecture,  adorned 
by  the  art  of  Raphael  and  Titian.  Here  were  Bibles, 
in  Latin,  chained  to  the  high  altars.  Here,  where  he 
looked  for  humble  friars,  were  arrogant  prelates  de- 
voted to  ambition  and  political  intrigue.  They  smiled 
at  him  as  a  simple  rustic.  Once  as  he  was  saying  mass 
a  neighbour  elbowed  him  with  the  remark,  "  While 


96  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

thou  art  saying  it  once  we  could  repeat  it  seven  times." 
Ill  at  ease  he  determined  on  penance.  He  would  climb 
the  Sacred  Stairway  on  his  knees.  Half-way  up  he 
seemed  to  hear  a  voice  saying,  *'  The  just  shall  live  by 
faith !  "  The  day  broke !  He  stood  erect,  a  believer  in 
the  Scriptures  and  in  Christ  as  his  only  Saviour.  Out 
of  that  experience  came  the  indomitable  courage  with 
which  he  ever  after  defended  his  faith  until  in  the 
presence  of  secular  and  ecclesiastical  potentates,  he  ex- 
claimed, "  Here  I  stand :  I  cannot  otherwise ;  God 
help  me !  " 

As  Protestants  we  stand  as'  Luther  did  for  an  open 
Bible  and  a  free  conscience  to  interpret  it.  In  the 
forty  years  prior  to  the  Reformation  no  less  than  six- 
teen hundred  "  heretics  "  were  burned  at  the  stake. 
All  of  them  died  for  the  crime  of  doing  their  own 
thinking.  A  man  has  a  right,  so  far  as  other  men 
are  concerned,  to  be  a  heretic  at  will;  aye,  or  an 
infidel  if  he  chooses,  since  each  must  answer  for  him- 
self before  God.  Alone  I  was  born  into  the  world, 
alone  am  I  called  to  face  the  responsibilities  and  vicis- 
situdes of  life,  alone  must  I  pass  through  the  Valley 
of  the  Shadow  and  alone  must  I  finally  stand  before 
the  Judge  of  all. 

The  men  who  have  taken  this  position  have  been 
pioneers  of  progress  along  the  ages.  The  Bible  and 
progress  go  hand  in  hand.  The  motto  of  the  Papal 
Church  is  Semper  idem,  i.e.,  "  always  the  same." 
The  temperature  of  Saint  Peter's  at  Rome  is  said  to 
be  invariable.  But  true  religion  is  nunquam  idem;  that 
is,  it  moves  with  the  moving  world.  There  are  two 
important  facts  that  never  change.     One  is  Christ, 


ITS  PLACE  IN  THE  FOREFRONT       97 

who  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  forever ;  yet  the 
world  is  constantly  catching  new  glimpses  of  the  beauty 
of  his  face.  The  other  is  the  Bible,  which  remains  un- 
altered and  unalterable,  because  it  was  divinely  sealed 
with  seven  seals.  There  is  no  appendix,  no  addendum. 
Nevertheless,  as  John  Robinson  said,  there  are  "  new 
lights  ever  bursting  forth  from  it."  These  are  the 
two  unchangeable  facts :  Christ  and  the  Bible,  between 
which  the  Church  moves  onward  in  new  enterprises 
to  cumulative  conquests  of  faith. 

Such  is  our  religion  as  outlined  by  Providence  in 
the  logic  of  events.  Its  only  pontiff  is  Christ,  whose 
name  is  above  every  other  which  is  named  in  heaven 
or  on  earth.  Its  only  hierarchy  is  the  procession  of 
torch  bearers,  who  go  with  his  Gospel  to  illuminate  the 
dark  places  of  cruelty  and  the  habitations  of  death, 
and  the  procession  of  reapers  who  come  from  yellow 
fields  bringing  their  sheaves  with  them.  Its  only  Book 
is  that  which  was  written  by  holy  men  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Its  only  creed  is  that  which 
is  framed  from  the  Scriptures  by  men  sitting  at  the 
Master's  feet.  Its  grandest  cathedrals  are  the  lives  of 
righteous  men  who  realize  their  kingly  birth  and  des- 
tiny and  who  know  their  rights  and  knowing  dare 
maintain.  Its  most  fervent  litany  is  this,  "  From  all 
tyranny  of  mind,  conscience  and  heart,  good  Lord  de- 
liver us!"  Its  sublimest  music  is  the  breaking  of 
chains  and  the  attendant  anthem : 

"  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus*  name ! 
Let  angels  prostrate  fall, 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 
And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all." 


98  WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

We  are  now  prepared  to  lay  down  this  proposition : 
The  Bible  is  at  the  forefront  of  every  great  move- 
ment making  for  light  and  humanity  and  civilisation 
throughout  the  world  to-day. 

(i)  In  supporting  that  proposition  let  us  affirm  at 
the  outset  that  the  Bible  stands  foremost  in  maintain- 
ing the  sanctions  of  domestic  life.  This  to  begin  with, 
because  all  happiness  centres  in  the  home  and  all  civili- 
zation radiates  from  it.  There  is  no  picture  to  compare 
with  the  love  in  a  cottage,  where  parents  and  children 
gather  around  the  family  altar.  Blessed  are  they  who 
can  look  back  through  the  lengthening  vista  of  years 
to  the  training  of  such  a  home.  Its  memory  never 
fades.  I  am  sorry  for  the  man  whose  deepest  heart 
does  not  respond  to  the  solemn  pathos  of  "  The  Cot- 
ter's Saturday  Night." 

"  The  cheerfu'  supper  done,  wi'  serious  face 

They,  round  the  ingle,  form  a  circle  wide; 
The  sire  turns  o'er,  wi'  patriarchal  grace, 

The  big  ha'-Bible,  ance  his  father's  pride; 
His  bonnet  reverently  is  laid  aside, 

His  lyart  haffets  wearing  thin  an'  bare : 
Those  strains  that  once  did  sweet  in  Zion  glide, 

He  wales  a  portion  with  judicious  care; 

And  '  Let  us  worship  God ! '  he  says  with  solemn  air. 

"Then,  kneehng  down,  to  heaven's  eternal  King, 

The  saint,  the  father  and  the  husband  prays : 
Hope  springs  exulting  on  triumphant  wing, 

That  thus  they  all  shall  meet  in  future  days ; 
There  ever  bask  in  uncreated  rays, 

No  more  to  sigh  or  shed  the  bitter  tear, 
Together  hymning  their  Creator's  praise 

In  such  society,  yet  still  more  dear. 

While  circling  Time  moves  round  in  an  eternal  sphere." 


ITS  PLACE  IN  THE  FOREFRONT        99 

What  makes  a  home  like  that  ?  The  Bible !  The 
world  knows  that  this  assures  the  joy  and  sanctity  of 
domestic  life. 

(2)  The  Bible  leads  the  way,  also,  in  the  betterment 
of  social  life.  It  stands  for  law  and  order  and  all  the 
conditions  that  make  a  community  a  desirable  place  to 
live  in. 

If  you  were  on  your  way  westward  in  search  of  a 
desirable  place  to  settle  down  and  "  grow  up  with  the 
country,"  and  if,  in  your  loneliness  and  uncertainty, 
the  open  door  of  a  wayside  house  should  disclose  a 
Bible  you  would  instantly  say,  *'  I  can  safely  sleep 
here  to-night."  And  suppose  that,  the  next  morning  on 
awakening  you  should  hear  the  ringing  of  church  bells, 
would  you  not  say,  "  This  is  the  village  for  me  ?  " 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  recall  the  words 
of  James  Russell  Lowell :  "  When  the  keen  scrutiny  of 
skeptics  has  found  a  place  on  this  planet  ten  miles 
square,  where  a  decent  man  can  live  in  decency,  com- 
fort and  security,  supporting  and  educating  his  chil- 
dren unspoiled  and  unpolluted,  a  place  where  age  is 
reverenced,  infancy  respected,  womanhood  honoured 
and  human  life  held  in  due  regard ;  when  skeptics  can 
find  such  a  place,  only  ten  miles  square,  on  this  globe, 
where  the  Gospel  of  Christ  has  not  gone  and  cleared 
the  way  and  laid  the  foundations  and  made  decency 
and  security  possible,  it  will  then  be  in  order  for  the 
skeptical  literati  to  move  thither  and  ventilate  their 
views." 

The  Bible  builds  no  dramshops,  no  bagnios,  no  gam- 
bling dens :  it  builds  instead  schools  and  hospitals  and 
institutions  that  make  for  the  uplift  of  all  sorts  and 


100        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

conditions  of  men.  This  is  a  fact  so  obvious  and  uni- 
versally conceded  that  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  dwell 
upon  it. 

(3)  Furthermore  the  Bible  is  at  the  forefront  of 
our  industrial  life.  One  day  last  week  I  watched  from 
my  study  window  many  thousands  of  striking  handi- 
craftsmen marching  by.  In  that  procession  I  observed 
a  few  American  flags,  a  considerable  number  of  others 
inscribed  with  the  ominous  shibboleths  of  socialism, 
but  not  a  single  one  that  betokened  the  remotest  ac- 
quaintance with  the  industrial  ethics  set  forth  in  the 
divine  Book  of  the  Law.  Yet  these  honest  toilers — 
foreign  born  with  scarcely  an  exception — should  be 
advised  of  the  fact  that  but  for  Christ  and  the  Bible 
there  would  be  no  Third  Estate,  no  wage  system,  nor 
any  possibility  of  striking  against  oppression  in  our 
country  or  anywhere  else. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  the  only  toiler 
was  a  bondslave,  with  no  remuneration  but  his  meagre 
board  and  keep.  Then  came  the  Carpenter  of  Naza- 
reth with  his  great  manifesto,  "  The  labourer  is  worthy 
of  his  hire !  "  In  the  process  of  the  succeeding  years 
the  Bible — which  was  and  is  the  Carpenter's  Book — 
has  carried  the  same  manifesto  to  the  limits  of  the 
civilized  world ;  so  that  Christendom  to-day  marks  the 
boundaries  of  the  recognized  rights  of  the  labouring 
class. 

No  doubt  there  are  wrongs  to  be  righted  still;  but 
point  me,  if  you  can,  to  any  land  without  the  Bible 
where  the  protest  of  the  employed  against  the  arbitrary 
rule  of  the  employer  is  permitted  in  any  form.  Could 
the  builders  of  the  pyramids  strike  against  their  task- 


ITS  PLACE  IN  THE  FOREFRONT      101 

master  with  his  whip  of  scorpions?  Are  there  any 
strikes  in  Senegambia  or  Tierra  del  Fuego?  If  not 
why  not  ?  Because  the  Sun  has  not  risen  upon  them ! 
The  Carpenter  with  his  Book  has  been  marching  down 
the  centuries  and  urging  the  square  deal  of  the 
Golden  Rule,  so  that  wherever  he  has  gone  capital  and 
labour  are  beginning  to  see  face  to  face :  but  nowhere 
outside  of  Christendom  is  there  any  such  condition  of 
things.  Nowhere  else  is  there  a  gleam  of  promise  of 
the  day  "  when  man  to  man  the  world  o'er  shall 
brothers  be." 

(4)  Further  still  the  Bible,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
is  at  the  forefront  of  the  world's  national  life.  The 
reason  why  we  foreigners  are  here — for  we  are  all 
foreigners  at  a  greater  or  less  remove — is  because  we 
believe  America  to  be  the  best  country  the  sun  ever 
shone  on.  It  is  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed  of  all  na- 
tions; and  they  are  coming  from  everywhere.  Why 
do  they  turn  their  steps  this  way?  They  are  fleeing 
from  the  lands  of  a  chained  Bible  to  the  land  of  an 
open  Bible!  They  are  escaping  from  the  oppression 
of  darkness  to  mingle  with  a  people  whom  the  light  of 
truth  makes  free. 

The  youngest  boy  in  our  public  schools  knows  that 
Columbus  discovered  America  in  1492 ;  but  he  does  not 
know  perhaps  that  America  was  not  peopled  for  a 
hundred  years  after  that.  This  is  a  noteworthy  fact. 
What  happened  in  the  interim?  A  tremendous  cata- 
clysm that  turned  the  world  upside  down!  A  move- 
ment for  the  unchaining  of  the  Book.  If  Luther  had 
not  issued  his  theses  against  the  closing  of  the  Scrip- 
tures there  would  have  been — so  far  as  we  can  see — 


102        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

no  scattering  of  the  night.  If  Holland  had  not  fought 
for  an  open  Bible  the  "  Half  Moon  "  would  never  have 
sailed  this  way.  If  Cromwell  and  the  Roundheads  had 
not  championed  the  right  of  personal  interpretation  the 
"  Mayflower  "  and  her  gallant  crew  would  never  have 
been  heard  of.  The  people  came,  and  the  people  are 
still  coming,  because  a  closed  Bible  means  tyranny  and 
oppression  while  an  open  Bible  insures  life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness. 

Our  country  is  a  Christian  country.  It  was  founded, 
we  repeat,  on  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  Ten 
Commandments  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  and  it 
has  developed  along  the  lines  marked  out  in  the  divine 
Book  of  the  Law.  In  the  year  1777  a  strange  thing 
happened.  The  Revolutionary  War  had  arrested  the 
output  of  the  printing  presses,  and  the  result  was  a 
famine  of  the  Word.  Congress  was  petitioned  to  re- 
lieve the  situation;  and  what  did  Congress  do?  It 
authorized  the  importation  of  twenty  thousand  Bibles 
from  Holland  to  be  distributed  among  the  people! 
Would  Congress  go  so  far  in  these  days  ?  I  fear  not. 
But  this  is  what  our  forefathers  thought  of  the  Book 
of  the  Law. 

But  if  it  be  true  that  our  Government  is  founded 
on  the  Scriptures,  that  its  history  and  jurisprudence, 
its  freedom  and  prosperity,  its  proud  memories  and 
bright  prospects  are  all  interwoven  with  the  truths  and 
precepts  of  Revelation,  will  you  tell  me  how  it  happens 
that  the  politicians  in  many  of  our  states  feel  free  to 
discriminate  against  the  Bible  ?  The  General  Assembly 
of  New  York  recently  turned  down  a  bill  calling  for 
the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools.    Mean- 


ITS  PLACE  IN  THE  FOREFRONT      103 

while  some  of  the  schoolhouses  on  Manhattan  Island 
are  open  every  evening  of  the  week  for  the  propaga- 
tion of  anarchy  and  socialism.  The  pernicious  doc- 
trines of  Karl  Marx  are  allowed,  but  the  Bible  is 
taboo.  Spinsters  are  permitted  to  discuss  eugenics 
and  birth-control  but  religion  is  under  the  ban.  Ex- 
convicts  are  welcomed  but  Christ  is  ruled  out.  And 
all  the  while  the  Christian  community  makes  no  prac- 
tical protest  but  complacently  foots  the  bills ! 

(5)  Finally,  the  Bible  leads  the  march  in  interna- 
tional affairs.  And  now  you  are  pointing  across  the 
sea  and  saying,  "  Behold  the  war  of  Christian  nations ! 
Is  this  the  best  that  an  open  Bible  can  show  for 
itself?"  The  point  is  well  taken. .  But  Christian  na- 
tions are  no  more  perfect  than  Christian  men.  The 
inconsistency  would  be  unnoted  were  it  not  for  the 
universal  conviction  that  the  prevailing  war  is  not  the 
outcome  of  loyalty  to  the  Scriptures  but  in  violation 
of  them. 

And  will  you  tell  me,  in  passing,  why  you  point 
derisively  at  France  and  England  and  Germany  and 
Russia  and  Austria  without  a  word  about  Turkey  and 
other  Ottoman  states?  Because  you  are  aw^are  that 
the  Bible  teaches  peace  while  the  Koran  teaches  war. 
Because  all  the  world  knows  that  "  frightfulness  "  is 
expected  of  a  non-Christian  nation  while  the  very  op- 
posite is  expected  of  those  that  have  the  Bible  and  live 
up  to  it.  Thus  obviously  your  acrid  criticism  becomes 
a  glowing  tribute  to  the  Word  of  God. 

But  there  are  influences  at  work  that  will  presently 
make  an  end  of  war.  What  and  whence  are  they? 
With  one  consent  we  say  "  the  principles  of  justice  and 


104j        why  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

humanity  and  universal  concord  which  are  laid  down 
in  the  Scriptures."  All  Courts  of  Arbitration  are  built 
upon  those  principles.  Even  in  the  grapple  of  the 
nations  the  Bible  forges  to  the  front.  I  hold  in  my 
hand  a  khaki  Testament  just  received  from  the  Bel- 
gian firing-line.    On  its  fly-leaf  are  these  words : 

"  August  25th,  1914. 
I  ask  you  to  put  your  trust  in  God.     He  will  watch  over 
you  and  strengthen  you.    In  this  little  Book  you  will  find  guid- 
ance when  you  are  in  health,  comfort  when  you  are  in  sick- 
ness, and  strength  when  you  are  in  adversity. 

Roberts." 

This  message  from  the  beloved  "  General  Bobs  *'  is 
being  read  by  the  men  in  the  trenches :  and  the  Gospel 
which  it  commends  is  thus  making  a  reductio  ad  ab- 
surdum  of  this  and  every  war. 

It  will  be  heard  from  in  the  Council  of  the  Great 
Powers  which  will  presently  assemble  to  determine 
upon  the  conditions  of  peace.  An  invisible  Presence 
will  be  there,  an  overtowering  Figure,  beside  whom 
Kings  and  Kaisers  and  Czars  and  Emperors  will 
dwindle  into  insignificance.  The  last  word  in  that 
Council  will  be  spoken  by  the  divine  Man  with  the 
Bible  in  his  hand.  The  Prince  of  Peace  will  ultimately 
bring  in  the  Truce  of  God. 

Let  us  therefore  have  confidence  in  the  Book.  When 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  was  taken  by  the  Philistines 
at  Ebenezer  the  prosperity  of  Israel  went  with  it.  Old 
Eli  sat  by  the  gate  awaiting  the  news  of  battle.  A 
messenger  came  running  with  his  clothes  rent  and 
ashes  upon  his  head.    "  What  is  there  done,  my  son  ?  " 


ITS  PLACE  IN  THE  FOREFRONT      105 

— *'  Israel  is  fled  before  the  enemy !  There  hath  been 
a  great  slaughter!  Thy  two  sons  are  slain,  and  the 
Ark  of  the  Lord  is  taken!'' — And.it  came  to  pass, 
when  he  made  mention  of  the  ark,  that  Eli  fell  back- 
ward and  died. 

Woe  worth  the  day  when  the  Bible — symbolized  by 
this  Ark  of  the  Covenant — shall  lose  its  place  in  the 
loyal  hearts  of  God's  people !  But  that  shall  never  be. 
The  divine  veracity  stands  pledged  to  the  perpetuity  of 
the  divine  Word  until  it  shall  accomplish  the  purpose 
whereunto  God  hath  sent  it. 

For  so  runs  the  promise :  "  As  the  rain  and  the 
snow  Cometh  down  from  heaven  and  returneth  not 
thither,  but  watereth  the  earth  and  maketh  it  to  bring 
forth  and  bud  and  give  seed  to  the  sower  and  bread 
to  the  eater,  so  shall  my  Word  be  that  goeth  forth  out 
of  my  mouth :  it  shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but  it 
shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please  and  prosper  in 
the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it." 

Thus  it  is  written  and  thus  it  must  be ;  for  the  mouth 
of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 


XIII 
IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK 

THE  storm-centres  of  religious  history  are  Christ 
and  the  Bible. 
As  to  this  Jesus  which  is  called  the  Christ, 
who  is  he?  Is  he  what  he  claimed  to  be,  the  only- 
begotten  Son  of  the  Father,  or  a  trickster  and  dis- 
sembler? This  is  the  Chateau  Hougomont  around 
which  the  Waterloo  of  the  centuries  has  been  waged ; 
for  it  is  understood  on  all  hands  that  if  Christ  could 
be  disposed  of  the  fabric  of  Christianity  would  vanish 
into  thin  air. 

And  when  the  controversy  has  not  been  about  Christ 
it  has  centred  in  the  Bible.  What  is  this  old  Book? 
Is  it  what  it  claims  to  be,  "  God-breathed,"  or  is  its 
distinction  due  only  to  certain  venerable  associations? 
Are  there  any  clear  characteristics  which  lift  it  out  of 
the  category  of  other  books  ?  Can  it  be  received  with 
confidence  as  an  "  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice " ;  or  are  those  who  so  regard  it  merely  a  sort  of 
fetich-worshippers?  Is  it  the  Truth,  or  does  it  only 
contain  truth,  that  is,  more  or  less  of  it?  What 
think  ye? 

These  two  are  the  controversial  centres  of  our  re- 
ligion— as  they  ought  to  be — and  they  are  really  and 
substantially  one.  The  porch  of  Solomon's  temple  was 
upheld  by  two  brazen  pillars,  the  names  of  which  were 

106 


IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK  107 

Jachin  or  strength  and  Boaz  or  continuance.  A  Jew 
going  up  to  the  temple,  faint  and  heavy-hearted,  felt 
his  vigour  and  confidence  renewed  as  he  gazed  upon 
these  massive  pillars  with  their  beautiful  capitals  of 
lily-work.  Thus  do  Christ  and  the  Bible  uphold  our 
religion.  While  they  remain  it  is  safe.  And  they  are 
destined  to  abide  forever ;  because  "  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  it." 

It  is  significant  that  both  Christ  and  the  Bible  are 
characterized  as  *'  the  Word  of  God."  How  indeed 
could  God  reveal  himself  to  men  otherwise  than  by 
his  Word?  He  is  seen  in  nature  but  not  clearly.  It 
would  be  difficult  for  a  man  to  look  so  far  "  through 
nature  up  to  nature's  God  "  as  to  be  able  to  say  "  Abba, 
Father !  "  He  would  be  much  more  likely,  standing 
amid  the  bewildering  glories  of  the  earth  and  over- 
arching heavens,  to  cry  aloud  in  desperate  desire,  **'  O 
God,  if  thou  art  or  wheresoever  thou  art,  speak  to 
me!" 

And  God  has  spoken :  As  it  is  written,  "  In  the 
beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
God  and  the  Word  was  God ;  and  the  Word  was  made 
flesh  and  dwelt  among  us."  Language  is  the  medium 
through  which  we  become  acquainted  with  each  other. 
You  are  discovering  what  sort  of  person  I  am  by  what 
I  am  saying  now.  In  like  manner  God  makes  us 
acquainted  with  himself  through  his  Word.  The  in- 
carnation was,  so  to  speak,  the  articulation  of  the 
divine  Mind.  We  are  not  surprised  therefore  to  hear 
the  incarnate  Son  claim  to  be  a  full  and  complete 
revelation  of  the  Father.  On  one  occasion  Philip  said 
to  him,  "  Show  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us  " ; 


108        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

and  Jesus  answered,  "  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with 
you  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me,  Philip?  He 
that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.  How  sayest 
thou  then,  '  Show  us  the  Father  ? '  Believest  thou  not 
that  I  am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me  ?  " 

But  this  was  not  enough.  God  must  speak  further 
if  he  would  make  himself  heard  by  all  mankind 
through  all  succeeding  ages.  Jesus  in  his  earthly  life 
was  hemmed  in  by  a  narrow  environment  of  time  and 
space.  His  ministry  lasted  but  three  years,  during 
which  he  canvassed  only  a  small  portion  of  an  incon- 
siderable province  in  a  remote  corner  of  the  globe. 
Should  he  content  himself  with  the  healing  of  a  few 
folk  and  preaching  to  some  thousands  of  stiff-necked 
and  unregenerate  Jews?  Nay,  all  nations  and  all  cen- 
turies would  be  groaning  and  travailing  together  for 
him.  The  Word  must  traverse  the  world !  The  Sun 
of  Righteousness  must  go  forth  as  a  bridegroom  out 
of  his  chamber  and  no  generation  must  be  hid  from 
the  light  of  it.  But  how  should  that  be  accomplished  ? 
Enter,  the  written  Word ;  which  is  the  reflex  of  Christ, 
his  universal  and  perpetual  shining  forth.  Through 
the  Scriptures  he  is  made  known  to  all  generations,  to 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  and  to  the  remotest 
end  of  time. 

The  pages  of  Scripture,  like  the  leaves  of  the  tree 
of  life,  are  "  for  the  healing  of  the  nations."  They 
flutter  forth  upon  the  winds  of  heaven  bearing  the 
tidings  of  redemption  to  those  who  sit  in  darkness  and 
the  shadow  of  death.  If  Christ  is  to  reign  universally 
it  is  because,  under  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  the 
propaganda  is  being  successfully  carried  on  through 


IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK  109 

the  instrumentality  of  the  written  Word.  This  is  the 
weapon  of  the  Kingdom ;  as  it  is  written,  "  The  sword 
of  the  Spirit  is  the  Word  of  God."  Thus  the  Bible 
is  the  complement  and  counterpart  of  Christ.  The 
two  Words  are  one ;  and  this  binomial  Word  is  a  com- 
plete, continuous  and  universal  revelation  of  God. 

Do  they,  then,  "stand  or  fall  together?"  Nothing 
is  said  of  their  falling.  Christ  and  the  Bible  stand 
together,  and  standing  thus  they  stand  forever ;  neither 
can  fall. 

We  hear  much  in  these  times  about  a  "  Christocen- 
tric  "  religion.  The  word  has  a  very  attractive  look  and 
mellifluous  sound ;  but  there  is  reason  to  fear  that 
under  certain  conditions  it  may  be  made  to  serve 
Christ  himself  an  ill  turn.  If  it  be  used  to  emphasize 
the  need  of  a  profounder  regard  for  the  teaching  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  let  us  cordially  assent  to  it ;  but 
if  ever  it  serves  as  a  mere  subterfuge  for  rejecting  or 
minimizing  Christ's  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  Scrip- 
tures then  we  are  bound  to  regard  it  with  suspicion. 
For  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  Christ  himself 
would  be  the  very  first  to  reject  a  Bibleless  Gospel,  no 
matter  what  sweet  adjectives  were  attached  to  it.  The 
ultimate  test  of  devotion  to  him  is  faith  in  the  sum 
total  of  his  teaching  every  way. 

Let  us  now  observe  what  the  Bible  has  to  say  about 
Christ:  and  afterward  what  Christ  has  to  say  about 
the  Bible.  It  will  thus  appear  how  they  stand  together 
as  complementary  each  to  the  other. 

To  begin  with,  the  Book  is  something  more  than  a 
mere  biography  of  Christ.  To  say  that  its  purpose  is 
exclusively  to  outline  the  scheme  of  salvation,  in  its 


110         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

narrow  sense,  may  furnish  a  taking  phrase  but  not  a 
complete  statement  of  fact.  There  are  many  things  in 
Scripture  which  have  no  direct  bearing  on  the  way  to 
escape  from  the  penalty  and  power  of  sin.  And  what- 
ever the  Book  contains,  whether  theological,  ethical  or 
scientific,  is  absolutely  true.  Thus  it  is  written,  "  All 
Scripture,  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in 
righteousness;  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect, 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good  work,"  i,e.,  that 
he  may  have  a  well-rounded  and  symmetrical  equip- 
ment for  life  every  way. 

It  is  correct  to  say,  however,  that  the  golden  thread 
running  through  all  the  Scriptures  is  Christological. 
Their  central  theme  is  Christ.  This  is  true  both  of  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets. 

The  common  title  of  the  Scriptures  among  the  Jews 
was  "  The  Law  and  the  Prophets." 

The  Moral  Law  as  delivered  from  Sinai  is  a  school- 
master to  lead  sinners  to  Christ.  The  Ceremonial  Law 
in  all  its  rites  and  symbols  points  directly  to  him.  Its 
local  centre  was  the  Tabernacle,  which,  from  the 
brazen  altar  at  its  door  to  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  in 
its  remote  Holy  of  Holies,  was  everywhere  typical  of 
him.  Its  calendrical  centre  was  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment, when  every  occurrence,  from  the  robing  of  the 
priest  in  fine  linen  clean  and  white  to  the  sending  away 
of  the  scapegoat  to  Azazel,  was  eloquent  of  him. 

The  same  may  be  affirmed  of  the  Prophets.  The 
beginning  of  prophecy  was  the  protevangel  in  Eden, 
'*  The  seed  of  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head." 
As  years  passed  on  and  men  forgot  God  and  lapsed 


IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK  111 

into  the  abominations  of  the  heathen,  Abram  was 
called  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  and  "  chosen  "  to 
preserve  monotheism  and  hand  it  down  through  suc- 
ceeding generations  until  the  advent  of  Christ.  To 
him  was  the  promise  given,  "  I  will  bless  thee  and 
make  thy  name  great ;  and  in  thee  shall  all  the  families 
of  the  earth  be  blessed,"  a  promise  to  which  Jesus 
himself  ascribed  a  distinct  Alessianic  import.  The 
Psalms  of  David  are  so  full  of  Christ  that  they  furnish 
much  of  the  material  for  our  Christian  hymn-books. 
Isaiah  for  a  similar  reason  is  called  "  the  evangelical 
prophet."  He  foretells  Christ  as  a  child,  a  teacher,  a 
wonderworker,  a  man  of  sorrows,  a  vicarious  sacri- 
fice, dying,  triumphing  over  death  and  evermore  living 
as  the  Mediator  and  Advocate  of  penitent  souls. 
Daniel  saw  the  great  world-powers  rising  and  flourish- 
ing and  passing  away  to  make  room  for  the  universal 
dominion  of  the  Messiah.  The  last  of  the  prophets, 
Malachi,  in  the  gathering  gloom  of  the  long  Egyptian 
night  of  four  hundred  years  which  intervened  between 
the  two  Testaments,  waved  his  torch,  crying,  ''  The 
night  cometh;  but  be  of  good  courage,  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  shall  arise  with  healing  in  his  wings ! " 
Thus  Christ  is  discernible  everywhere  in  Law  and 
Prophecy,  like  the  theme  or  undertone  of  an  oratorio ; 
wherefore  it  would  be  obviously  impossible  to  keep 
the  Bible  and  let  Christ  go. 

What  now,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  attitude  of 
Christ  toward  the  Bible? 

To  begin  with,  he  was  familiar  with  it.  He  learned 
it  memoriter  in  his  boyhood ;  and  ever  after  made  it 
his  "  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice."    In  each  of 


lia        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

his  three  temptations  in  the  wilderness  he  used  it  as 
effective  foil  against  the  adversary.  When  urged  to 
change  stones  into  bread  to  satisfy  his  hunger  he 
answered,  "  Nay,  I  cannot !  For  I  remember  what  my 
mother  taught  me  out  of  the  Book,  '  Man  shall  not 
live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth 
out  of  the  mouth  of  God.'  "  When  urged  to  cast  him- 
self down  from  a  pinnacle  of  the  temple  to  prove  his 
Godhood  by  his  superiority  to  natural  laws,  he  an- 
swered again,  ''  Nay,  I  cannot !  For  I  remember  what 
the  Bible  says,  'Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy 
God.'  "  And  when  urged  finally  to  avoid  the  agony 
of  the  cross  and  accept  the  world's  sovereignty  in 
return  for  a  single  act  of  homage  rendered  to  its 
de  facto  prince,  he  answered,  "  I  cannot !  For  the 
Book  says,  '  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve.'  "  Thus  in  every  case 
the  Bible  was  his  stand-by.  ''  It  is  written "  was 
enough  for  him.  And  blessed  is  every  one  of  his  fol- 
lowers who  can  defend  himself  in  like  manner  with 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is  the  Word  of  God. 

(i)  But  now,  to  be  more  specific:  Christ  declares 
the  Scriptures  to  be  true.  He  does  not  scruple  to  call 
them  *'  truth."  He  does  not  say  that  they  "  contain  " 
but  that  they  are  the  Word  of  God.  In  his  sacerdotal 
prayer  in  behalf  of  his  disciples  he  pleads,  ''  Sanc- 
tify them  by  thy  truth;  thy  Word  is  truth."  A  fol- 
lower of  Christ  ought  to  be  willing  to  follow  him  in 
his  indorsement  of  the  Scriptures  no  less  than  in  faith- 
ful service.  He  affixed  his  seal  to  the  story  of  the 
Deluge,  saying,  "  As  it  was  in  the  days  of  Noah  so 
shall  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  be:  they  were 


IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK  113 

eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage, 
and  the  flood  came  and  swept  them  all  away."  He 
believed  in  the  story  of  the  destruction  of  the  Cities 
of  the  Plain  by  fire  and  brimstone  from  heaven,  in  the 
healing  efficacy  of  the  brazen  serpent,  in  the  turning 
of  Lot's  wife  into  a  pillar  of  salt,  and  in  Jonah  in  the 
whale's  belly.  He  thus  gave  an  explicit  assent  to  the 
so-called  "  fables  "  of  the  Old  Testament  which  are  so 
abhorrent  to  many  modern  critics.  He  was  probably 
as  well  advised  as  most  of  our  Biblical  exegetes  re- 
specting the  real  facts  bearing  upon  the  question  of 
inerrancy;  and,  knowing  all,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
indorse  the  entire  trustworthiness  of  those  very  por- 
tions of  Scripture  that  are  most  vigorously  assailed  in 
these  days. 

As  to  the  Pentateuch,  he  not  only  endorsed  its  trust- 
worthiness but  repeatedly  ascribed  its  authorship  to 
Moses :  as  where  he  asked,  "  Did  not  Moses  give  you 
the  Law  ?  "  And  with  respect  to  Deuteronomy,  which 
the  destructive  critics  have  pronounced  to  be  a  sub- 
stantial forgery,  he  placed  a  peculiar  sanction  upon 
it.  In  his  temptation  in  the  wilderness  the  words  with 
which  he  repelled  the  adversary  on  each  occasion  were 
from  Deuteronomy!  A  critic  of  the  modern  school 
has  recently  written,  "  The  Bible  is  no  better  than  a 
mass-book  for  stopping  a  bullet,  nor  as  good  as  holy 
water  for  putting  out  a  fire."  But  our  divine  Master 
evidently  thought  otherwise  when  he  made  this  book 
of  Deuteronomy  an  effective  shield  against  the  ap- 
proaches of  the  tempter,  putting  out  his  fiercest  fire 
with  water  from  Siloa's  brook. 

As  to  the  scientific  propositions  of  the  Scriptures, 


114<        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

our  Lord  endorsed  the  cosmo|gony  of  Moses  and 
those  early  records  upon  which  rest  the  ethnology  and 
philology  of  our  time.  The  assault  upon  the  science 
of  the  Scripture  is  by  no  means  recent.  Julian  the 
Apostate  in  his  time  undertook  to  cast  reproach  upon 
it.  But  while  the  theories  of  ''  science  falsely  so- 
called"  have  passed  through  no  end  of  kaleidoscopic 
changes  along  the  pathway  of  the  centuries,  the  Bible 
continues  to  hold  its  own.  And  when  such  scientists 
as  Dana,  Guyot,  Faraday  and  others  too  numerous 
to  mention  assert  its  substantial  truth,  we  do 
not  feel  called  upon  to  withdraw  or  qualify  faith 
in  it. 

As  to  the  historical  parts  of  the  Old  Testament,  our 
Lord  put  his  distinct  sanction  upon  them;  and  the 
recent  researches  of  archaeologists  furnish  a  cumula- 
tive confirmation.  Professor  Sayce  affirms  that  no  less 
than  seventy-seven  events  in  Assyrian  History  as  given 
in  Scripture,  have  been  corroborated  by  recent  excava- 
tions. In  any  case,  however,  the  important  fact  is  that 
Jesus  Christ  never  called  these  historic  annals  in  ques- 
tion, but  positively  as  well  as  tacitly  placed  his  endorse- 
ment upon  them. 

As  to  prophecy.  The  pastor  of  one  of  our  evan- 
gelical churches  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  I  know  of 
no  one  passage  in  the  Prophets  which  can  certainly  be 
said  to  point  to  an  event  beyond  the  near  future  of 
the  writer."  If  so,  then  Jesus  was  mistaken  when  he 
said,  "Moses  wrote  of  me  " ;  and  again,  **  These  are 
they  which  testify  of  me."  He  found  the  Old  Testa- 
ment full  of  predictions  respecting  himself  and  his 
redemptive  work  and  of  predictions  pointing  to  his- 


IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK  115 

tory  still  in  the  remote  future,  even  to  the  events  of 
the  last  days. 

As  to  these  particular  parts  of  the  record  which  have 
been  most  bitterly  assailed  by  the  modern  school  of 
critics,  it  should  be  enough,  as  already  intimated,  to 
mention  our  Lord's  reference  to  and  implied  endorse- 
ment of  the  story  of  Adam  and  Eve,  Abel,  Noah  and 
the  Flood,  Abraham,  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  Lot's 
wife,  Jacob's  ladder,  Moses  and  the  burning  bush,  the 
manna,  the  brazen  serpent,  David,  Solomon,  the  Queen 
of  Sheba,  Elijah  raising  the  widow's  son,  Elisha  and 
Naaman,  and  Jonah.  As  to  the  story  of  Jonah  in  the 
whale's  belly  our  Lord  adventured  the  validity  of  his 
entire  ministry  upon  it.  The  Jews  clamoured  for  a 
sign ;  he  said,  "  There  shall  no  sign  be  given  but  the 
sign  of  Jonas  the  prophet ;  for  as  Jonas  was  three 
days  and  three  nights  in  the  whale's  belly,  so  shall  the 
Son  of  Man  be  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
heart  of  the  earth."  Yet  we  are  told  that  the  story 
of  Jonah  is  a  fable  pure  and  simple,  no  more  trust- 
worthy than  that  of  Aladdin  and  his  wonderful  lamp. 
To  what  an  ignoble  anticlimax  does  this  reduce  the 
confident  challenge  of  Jesus:  as  if  he  had  said,  ''As 
surely  as  Aladdin  wrought  wonders  by  rubbing  his 
magical  lamp,  so  surely  shall  I  rise  again  from  the 
dead  and  bring  life  and  immortality  to  light !  " 

But  there  are  those  who  are  unwilling  to  concede 
that  Christ's  authority  was  conclusive  upon  this  point. 
They  say,  "  He  had  his  limitations." 

It  is  granted  that  our  Lord,  in  subjecting  himself 
to  the  conditions  of  our  earthly  life,  was  pleased  to  lay 
aside  the  full  exercise  of  his  divine  powers;  he  held 


116        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

his  omniscience,  omnipotence  and  omnipresence  in 
abeyance ;  but  never  so  that  at  any  given  moment  he 
could  not  summon  them  at  w^ill. 

His  limitations,  whatever  they  may  have  been,  w^ere 
certainly  not  such  as  to  expose  him  to  the  liability  of 
error  or  to  the  danger  of  uttering  an  untruth.  To 
assert  this  would  be  to  say  a  monstrous  thing,  for  it 
would  reduce  our  divine  Teacher  to  the  level  of 
Mohammed  and  Joseph  Smith.  It  is  manifest  that  this 
position  is  impossible  to  any  follower  of  Christ.  One 
of  the  fathers  of  modern  unbelief  was  indeed  pleased 
to  say  on  a  certain  occasion,  when  reminded  of  a  divine 
statement,  "  I  am  not  willing  to  receive  that  upon  the 
authority  of  any  such  person  as  God."  It  is  related, 
also  that  in  a  recent  meeting  of  evangelical  ministers 
the  question  being  asked,  ''  If  Moses  did  not  write  the 
Pentateuch,  why  did  Jesus  Christ  say  that  he  did  ?  " 
a  voice  replied :  ''  Because  he  knew  no  better."  It  is 
incredible  however  that  such  views  should  be  enter- 
tained by  any  of  the  sincere  followers  of  Christ. 

As  if  to  anticipate  the  current  objection  to  his  testi- 
mony on  the  ground  of  human  limitations,  it  was  as- 
serted by  our  Lord  that  the  Father  was  himself  respon- 
sible for  his  teaching.  He  said :  "  I  can  do  nothing 
of  myself  "  and  again :  "  My  teaching  is  not  mine  but 
his  that  sent  me  " ;  and  again :  ''  I  speak  not  of  myself, 
but  the  Father  who  sent  me  hath  given  me  a  com- 
mandment what  I  shall  say  " ;  and  again :  "  The  things 
which  I  speak,  even  as  the  Father  hath  said  unto  me, 
so  I  speak  " ;  and  again :  "  The  word  which  ye  hear 
is  not  mine,  but  the  Father's  which  sent  me."  So  that 
to  question  the  teaching  of  Jesus  with  respect  to  the 


IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK  117 

Scriptures  is  not  merely  to  doubt  the  statement  of  one 
who  was  subject  to  human  limitations;  it  is  to  call  in 
question  the  veracity  of  the  living  God.* 

(2)  Then  observe  the  eloquent  silence  of  Jesus  with 
respect  to  all  those  alleged  errors  and  discrepancies 
which  so  vex  the  souls  of  certain  of  our  learned  folk. 
Did  he  know  that  these  blunders  were  to  be  found  in 
the  sacred  pages?  If  the  Mosaic  cosmogony  is  fabu- 
lous how  is  it  that  he  uttered  no  word  against  it  ?    And 

*  At  this  point,  having  observed  our  Lord's  calm  acceptance 
of  the  truth  of  the  Oracles  with  never  a  word  of  adverse 
reflection  upon  them  in  any  way,  it  will  be  profitable  to  mark 
some  of  the  reckless  statements  made  by  leaders  of  the 
Higher  Criticism  with  respect  to  the  same  Book. 

Kuenen  says,  "  In  the  eyes  of  the  writers  everything  was 
subordinate  to  their  object,  so  that  they  often  sacrificed  what 
we  consider  very  important  interests  to  it,  historical  truth, 
for  example.  As  a  rule  they  concerned  themselves  very  lit- 
tle with  the  question  whether  what  they  narrated  really  hap- 
pened so  or  not.  This  is  why  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
are  so  full  of  legends." 

Knappert:  "The  Old  Testament  is  rich  in  legends  and 
myths.  We  may  take  as  examples  the  stories  of  the  first 
human  pair,  the  Fall,  Cain  and  Abel,  the  Deluge,  the  tower 
of  Babel,  God's  appearance  to  Abraham,  and  Jacob's  wrestling. 
These  stories  have  no  historical  foundation  whatever.  When 
a  prophet  or  priest  related  something  about  bygone  times  he 
never  hesitated  to  modify  what  he  knew  of  the  past,  and 
he  did  not  think  twice  about  touching  it  up  from  his  own 
imagination,  simply  that  it  might  be  more  conducive  to  the 
end  he  had  in  view  and  chime  in  better  with  his  opinion. 
Our  own  notions  of  honour  and  good  faith  would  never  per- 
mit this." 

Wellhausen :  "  The  historical  sphere  created  by  itself  is 
nowhere  found  within  actual  history.    Thus  it  holds  itself  in 


118        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

why  did  he  not  denounce  those  imprecatory  Psalms 
which  are  ''  too  horrible  to  be  read  "  in  some  of  our 
modern  pulpits  ?  How  is  it  that  he  did  not  expose  the 
falsity  of  those  prophecies  concerning  himself  which 
*'  have  never  been  fulfilled  and  never  can  be  because 
their  time  has  gone  by  ?  " 

Surely  it  is  not  too  much  to  suppose  that  Jesus  was 
an  honest  man.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  fervent  hater 
of  shams  and  impostures,  lying  frontlets  and  phylac- 
teries, false  traditions  of  the  elders  and  deceptions  of 

the  air  by  its  own  waistband.  The  dislocation  of  the  narra- 
tive by  monstrous  growths  of  legislative  matter  is  not  to  he 
imputed  to  the  editor;  it  is  the  work  of  the  unedited  Priest 
Code,  and  is  certainly  intolerable." 

Dillman :  The  Hexateuch  is  "  not  an  authentic  picture  of  the 
legislation  of  Moses.  Where  the  author  had  no  historical  ac- 
counts he  sketches  freely  an  imaginary  picture,  e.g.,  Noah's 
ark,  course  of  the  Flood,  tabernacle  (after  the  manner  of  a 
movable  holy  tent,  richly  furnished),  the  order  of  the  camp 
and  march,  the  determination  of  the  boundaries  of  the  tribes 
by  lot  under  Joshua,  the  numbers  of  each  tribe  in  Moses' 
day,  the  quantity  of  manna  that  fell,  etc.  These  are  not  to 
be  taken  historically." 

Reuss:  The  Exodus  is  "a  bald  fiction:  the  tabernacle,  the 
camp  and  the  arranged  parade  march  in  the  desert,  the  large 
numbers  of  the  pretended  census,  and  many  other  things  that 
exceed  by  far  the  old  sagas,  and  are  really  not  sagas  of  the 
early  days  but  dreams  of  an  impoverished  generation." 

Holzinger :  "  The  most  numerous  and  worst  possibilities  in 
the  Hexateuch  are  from  the  sagas.  The  whole  chronology  of 
the  earhest  history  is  worthless ;  its  name-lists  are  bare-faced 
inventions;  it  abounds  in  gross,  sheer,  mechanically  enlarged 
miracles ;  its  historical  presuppositions  of  the  giving  of  the 
law  are  whimsies  that  force  a  smile." 

Smend:  "It  seems  almost  a  silly  trick  when  the  author  of 


IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK  119 

every  sort.  Is  it  possible  that  his  eyes  were  not  as 
clear,  in  this  particular,  as  those  of  our  recent  Biblical 
scholars?  Or  was  his  soul  not  so  sensitive  as  theirs 
with  regard  to  these  dreadful  things  in  Scripture? 
We  are  in  a  dilemma.  Was  he  unscrupulous  or  merely 
ignorant?  Must  we  put  the  most  severe  limitations 
upon  his  knowledge,  assuming  that  he  knew  no  better 
than  to  let  these  errors  pass  unchallenged ;  or  must  we 
impugn  his  ingenuousness?  In  either  case  we  could 
scarcely  receive  him  as  our  divine  Saviour  and  spiritual 

the  Priest  Code  makes  the  Sabbath  a  duty  because  God  rested 
on  that  day.  The  Israelites  received  the  Sabbath  from  the 
Canaanites.  The  representation  of  the  Pentateuch  proves 
itself  not  historical.  A  heathen  myth  is  the  substance  of 
Genesis,  i.e.,  a  product  of  Babylonian  science.  The  life  of 
Abraham  is  unthinkable  and  false;  there  was  no  covenant  of 
God  with  Abraham.    That  was  the  invention  of  a  later  age." 

Piepenbring:  "The  Priest  Code,  the  heart  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, is  legend,  myth,  saga,  tradition,  and  not  trustworthy, 
a  proved  historical  fiction,  bald,  transparent  fiction,  artifice, 
fantasy,  false  history,  whimsies  that  force  a  smile,  absurd,  im- 
possible, contradictory  and  inconceivable,  unthinkable  and 
false,  a  bare-faced  invention." 

Riehm :  "  Not  only  did  the  authors  of  the  Pentateuch  com- 
pose the  speeches  of  the  actors,  as  freely  as  Thucydides  or 
Livy,  but  they  also  gave  themselves  to  more  or  less  free  re- 
construction of  the  popular  tradition.  Their  peculiar  char- 
acter makes  on  the  unprejudiced  mind"  the  clear  impression 
that  they  are  not  history  but  saga." 

In  commenting  upon  an  imposing  array  of  such  statements 
from  the  leaders  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  Professor  Osgood 
wisely  says,  "It  is  not  possible  on  any  theory  to  avoid  the 
real  issue.  If  the  Higher  Criticism  is  true,  Christ  was  the 
greatest  of  false  prophets  and  deceivers.  If  Christ  taught 
God's  truth,  this  criticism  is  absolutely  false." 


120         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

guide.  We  would  surely  turn  from  him  to  the  guid- 
ance of  these  Wiser  Men. 

(3)  Let  us  further  mark  how  Christ  adventured 
his  entire  work  on  the  truth  and  trustworthiness  of 
Scripture.  At  the  very  outset  of  his  ministry  he  went 
into  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth  and  opened  the  scroll 
of  Isaiah  at  the  place  where  it  is  written,  "  The  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me ;  because  he  hath  anointed 
me  to  preach  good  tidings  unto  the  meek,  to  bind  up 
the  broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives 
and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound, 
to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord  and  the 
day  of  vengeance  of  our  God;  to  comfort  all  that 
mourn,  to  give  unto  them  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of 
joy  for  mourning,  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit 
of  heaviness."  And,  having  read  this  passage,  he  said 
to  his  audience,  "  This  day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in 
your  ears." 

If  we  follow  him  through  the  three  eventful  years 
of  his  ministry  we  shall  find  him  again  and  again,  in 
the  same  manner,  hypothecating  the  truth  of  his  teach- 
ing and  the  genuineness  of  his  work  on  the  sanction  of 
Holy  Writ. 

After  his  resurrection,  while  walking  with  certain 
of  his  disciples  along  the  way  to  Emmaus,  he  "  began 
with  Moses  and  opened  the  whole  Scriptures  concern- 
ing himself."  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  the 
substance  of  that  expository  sermon.  We  may  be 
quite  sure  that  he  unfolded  the  meaning  of  ancient  rites 
and  symbols,  as  well  as  of  Messianic  prediction,  in  the 
light  of  things  which  had  recently  happened  at  Jeru- 
salem.    We  may  be  equally  sure  that  he  carefully 


IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK  121 

avoided  any  suggestion  of  the  *'  fact "  that  "  the  great 
body  of  Messianic  prediction  has  not  only  never  been 
fulfilled  but  cannot  now  be  fulfilled  for  the  reason  that 
its  own  time  has  passed  forever."  What  he  did  say 
seems  to  have  been  of  contrary  import.  It  was  directly 
in  line  with  his  previous  utterance,  ''Not  one  jot  or 
tittle  shall  pass  away  until  all  be  fulfilled.  Thus  it  is 
written  and  thus  it  must  be." 

So  Christ  planted  himself  on  the  absolute  truth  of 
Scripture  and  adventured  the  integrity  of  his  work 
upon  it.  And  it  is  respectfully  submitted  that  what 
was  good  enough  for  our  Lord  and  Master  ought  to 
be  sufficient  for  those  who  profess  to  follow  him.  He 
stood  as  a  constant  witness  to  the  unqualified  truth  of 
the  Scriptures,  ever  turning  to  them  as  a  Court  of 
Final  Appeal  in  verification  of  his  divine  nature  and 
mediatorial  work ;  saying,  "  Search  them ;  for  in  them 
ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  they  are  they  which 
testify  of  me." 

I  do  not  see,  therefore,  how  it  is  possible  to  detach 
the  Written  from  the  Incarnate  Word.  They  stand 
together.  They  are  unreservedly  loyal  to  each  other. 
How  could  it  be  otherwise  when  they  are  both  revela- 
tions of  the  same  God  ? 

Attention  is  now  called  to  a  striking  parallel  between 
the  two  Words  in  the  following  particulars : 

First:  Christ  as  the  Incarnate  Word  and  the  Scrip- 
tures as  the  Written  Word  are  both  alike  called  "  The 
Truth  "  and  "  The  Word  of  God." 

Second :  They  are  both  theanthropic :  that  is,  divinely 
conceived  and  humanly  born.  As  such  the  divine  and 
human  are  inseparably  blended  in  them.     Christ  was 


122         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary;  but  in  partaking  of  his  mother's  humanity  he 
in  no  wise  inherited  her  sin.  In  like  manner  the 
Scriptures  were  written  by  certain  men  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God;  and  in  this  case  also  it 
is  claimed  that  the  divine-human  product  was  free 
from  human  imperfection.  The  features  of  Jesus 
doubtless  bore  a  distinct  likeness  to  those  of  his 
mother;  just  as  the  pages  of  Holy  Writ  are  marked 
by  the  mental  characteristics  of  their  human  penmen ; 
but  in  neither  case  does  this  resemblance  prevent  that 
absolute  faultlessness  which  belongs  to  any  Word  of 
God. 

Third:  it  is  only  in  the  original  that  either  the  In- 
carnate or  Written  Word  can  be  called  ''  inerrant." 
We  have  heard  the  Higher  Critics  saying,  "  What  is 
the  use  of  affirming  inerrancy  of  an  '  original  auto- 
graph '  which  is  not  in  existence  ?  The  theory  that 
there  were  no  errors  in  the  original  text  is  sheer  as- 
sumption, upon  which  no  mind  can  rest  with  certainty. 
We  must  take  the  Scriptures  as  we  have  them,  with- 
out reference  to  a  hypothetical  original  which  no  living 
man  has  seen."  It  is  a  poor  rule,  however,  which  can- 
not be  made  to  work  both  ways.  No  living  man  has 
ever  seen  the  Incarnate  Word.  There  is  no  accurate 
portrait  of  him  in  existence, — certainly  not  if  the 
Scriptures  are  unreliable.  Every  version  of  Christ 
which  is  produced  in  the  life  and  character  of  Chris- 
tians is  full  of  imperfections.  Nevertheless  we  do  be- 
lieve that  the  original  Christ,  who  for  a  brief  period  of 
thirty  years  lived  among  men  and  then  vanished  from 
sight,  was  "  holy,  harmless  and  undefiled ;  "  precisely 


IT  IS  CHRIST'S  BOOK  123 

as  it  is  claimed  the  Scriptures  were  in  their  original 
form. 

Fourth :  Notwithstanding  all  errors  in  transmission, 
the  Word  in  both  cases  remains  in  such  substantial 
perfection  as  to  be  effective  for  the  accomplishment  of 
its  purpose.  A  special  providence  has  kept  before  the 
eyes  of  all  generations  the  image  of  an  immaculate 
Christ.  A  like  special  providence  has  so  guarded  the 
transcription  of  the  Written  Word  that  we  may  con- 
fidently hold  it  to  be  an  infallible  rule  of  faith  and 
practice.  Neither  the  Incarnate  nor  the  Written 
Word,  as  we  have  them,  can  lead  a  soul  astray,  but 
will  infallibly  conduct  the  believer  at  last  to  heaven's 
gate. 

To  recapitulate :  Our  Lord  believed  the  Bible ;  spoke 
of  it  as  ''truth''  and  as  "the  Word  of  God"; 
preached  it ;  practiced  it :  adventured  the  integrity  and 
success  of  his  redemptive  work  upon  its  veracity; 
stood  particularly  for  its  record  of  creation,  of  the 
destruction  of  the  Cities  of  the  Plain,  of  Jonah's  ad- 
ventures on  the  way  to  Nineveh  and  of  such  other 
portions  as  are  most  frequently  called  in  question; 
commissioned  his  disciples  to  preach  the  Bible  to  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  thus  making  it  the  deter- 
mining factor  in  the  problem  of  his  kingdom;  and 
never  uttered  a  single  word  or  syllable  vo  indicate  that 
he  supposed  it  to  be  otherwise  than  true  from  begin- 
ning to  end. 

How  shall  we  account  for  his  consistent  loyalty  to 
the  Book?  And  how  shall  we  explain  that  eloquent 
silence  of  his  with  respect  to  its  alleged  errors?  We 
face  a  threefold   alternative.     First,   there   were   no 


124        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

such  errors  in  Scripture.  Second,  the  errors  were 
there  but  Christ  was  not  aware  of  them.  Third,  he 
was  aware  of  them  but  did  not  choose  to  tell. 

In  the  first  case  the  Scriptures  must  of  course  be 
regarded  as  true.  In  the  second  case,  if  Christ  was 
not  aware  of  the  alleged  errors,  then  the  destructive 
critic  of  our  time  is  wiser  than  he  and  therefore  more 
worthy  to  be  our  spiritual  guide.  In  the  third  case, 
if  he  knew  there  were  such  errors  in  Scriptu;re  and 
did  not  tell,  he  was  not  an  honest  man. 


XIV 

EXCURSUS 

JESUS :   HIS  BOOK 

AS  I  entered  the  Synagogue  a  Man  had  just  risen 
to  read  the  Lesson  of  the  Day.  It  was  obvious 
^  that  he,  though  clad  in  homespun,  was  no  com- 
mon man ;  and,  by  his  reverent  handling  of  the  Book, 
it  seemed  that  he  regarded  it  as  no  common  book. 

The  Lesson  was  from  one  of  the  Messianic  prophe- 
cies of  Isaiah :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 
because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted, 
to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives  and  recovering  of 
sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 

Having  read  thus  far  he  closed  the  Book  and  began 
to  say,  "  This  day  is  the  Scripture  fulfilled  in  your 
ears."  In  the  discourse  which  followed  he  advanced 
the  stupendous  claim  that  he,  this  Man  in  homespun, 
was  the  long-looked-for  Messiah,  "  whom  kings  and 
prophets  longed  to  see  and  died  without  the  sight." 
As  he  proceeded,  the  eyes  of  all  that  were  in  the 
Synagogue  were  fastened  upon  him.  But  the  claim 
and  the  Claimant  were  so  amazingly  at  odds  that  mur- 
murings   began   to   be   heard,   *Ts   not  this   the   car- 

125 


U6         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

penter's  son  ?  "  and  presently  they  rose  up  with  one 
consent  and  thrust  him  out. 

I  followed  and,  on  joining  him,  asked,  "  Who  art 
thou?"  He  answered,  "  I  am  the  only-begotten  Son, 
who  was  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  before  the  world 
was.  I  am  Immanuel;  that  is,  God  dwelling  among 
men.  I  am  he  of  whom  it  is  written  '  In  the  beginning 
was  the  Word  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the 
Word  was  God;  and  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and 
dwelt  among  us.' " 

Then  I  asked,  "What  is  the  Book?" 

He  answered,  *'  This  also  is  the  Word  of  God  ; 
search  it:  for  therein  thou  shalt  find  eternal  life,  be- 
cause it  testifieth  of  me." 

But,  not  knowing  the  credentials  of  the  Book,  I  con- 
tinued, "  How  may  I  be  assured  that  this  is  the  veri- 
table Word  of  God?" 

Whereupon  he  said,  "  By  its  fruits  thou  shalt  know 
it.  Come  with  me  down  the  centuries,  and  I  will  show 
thee  what  this  Book  has  done,  is  doing  and  can  do." 

We  presently  came  to  the  door  of  a  humble  Home, 
at  which  he  knocked ;  and  on  being  admitted  he  raised 
his  hands  in  benediction  saying,  "  Peace  be  within  this 
house ! " 

On  a  table  in  the  centre  of  the  living-room  lay  the 
Book,  from  which  the  goodman  of  the  house  had 
been  reading,  with  his  family  gathered  about  him.  By 
the  light  in  their  eyes  I  knew  that  this  was  a  Christian 
home,  where  husband  and  wife  were  bound  by  an 
indissoluble  tie  and  the  children  were  knit  together  by 
filial  love. 

As  I  looked  inquiringly  toward  my  Guide  he  said. 


EXCURSUS  127 

"All  homes  are  thus  happy  when  governed  by  the 
principles  which  are  written  in  the  Book." 

**  But  is  there  no  sorrow  here  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes ;  once  and  again  the  shadow  of  death  has 
crossed  the  threshold;  but  the  Book  gives  beauty  for 
ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning  and  the  garment  of 
praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness.  The  members  of 
the  household  do  not  sorrow  as  those  that  are  without 
hope :  there  is  a  rainbow  in  every  tear,  for  when  they 
say,  *  Farewell '  they  only  mean,  '  Until  we  meet 
again.'  " 

And  I  said  within  myself, ''  Surely  a  Book  that  radi- 
ates such  happiness  must  have  come  from  God." 

He  then  brought  me  to  a  Workshop.  As  we  entered 
I  saw  men  toiling  at  the  bench.  Some  of  them  were 
indolent,  some  slighted  their  tasks,  and  some  spoke 
angrily  of  other  workmen  and  conspired  against  their 
employers.  These  were  embittered  and  discontented 
with  their  lot.  But  there  were  others  who  applied 
themselves  industriously  to  the  business  in  hand,  think- 
ing of  labour  less  as  drudgery  than  of  serving  others 
in  doing  their  bit. 

I  asked  of  my  companion,  ''  What  makes  the  dif- 
ference ?  " 

He  replied,  *'  The  principles  which  are  written  in  the 
Book.  For  therein  is  the  primal  law,  *  Thou  shalt  eat 
thy  bread  by  the  sweat  of  thy  brow ' ;  and  there  also 
is  written  the  Golden  Rule,  '  Whatsoever  ye  would 
that  others  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  to 
them.' " 

And  again  I  said  within  myself,  "  A  Book  that 
teaches  us  to  live  and  let  live,  to  be  industrious  and 


128         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

content,  and  to  regard  the  welfare  of  others  while 
making  the  most  of  ourselves,  is  worthy  of  the  mind 
of  God." 

He  led  me  from  the  Workshop  to  an  Exchange, 
where  capitalists  were  dealing  in  bonds  and  mortgages 
and  planning  great  enterprises.  Here  also  I  perceived 
a  difference.  Some  of  them  had  worshipped  the  yellow 
god  so  long  that  they  had  grown  yellow  with  the  jaun- 
dice of  gold.  They  were  sons  of  the  horseleech,  with 
hands  like  outstretched  talons  and  fevered  lips  cry- 
ing, "  Give !  Give !  "  They  were  money-sharks,  miserly, 
extortionate,  grinding  the  faces  of  the  poor,  shrewd 
bargainers,  usurers,  ambidextrous  over-reachers.  They 
were  dying  of  "  the  sacred  hunger  of  gold  "  and  knew 
it  not.  But  others  there  were,  equally  rich  and  enter- 
prising yet  open-handed,  magnanimous  and  ever 
''  ready  to  communicate."  They  believed  in  fair- 
dealing  and  consented  that  the  labourer  is  worthy  of 
his  hire.  For  them  wealth  had  no  value  except  for 
what  it  could  do:  and  the  best  it  could  do  was  to 
make  its  possessor  rich  toward  God.  In  the  use  of 
their  wealth  they  regarded  themselves  as  stewards, 
holding  all  in  trust  and  at  the  divine  call. 

"Is  this,"  I  asked,  "the  teaching  of  the  Book?" 

He  answered,  "  It  is :  the  treasure  that  lies  buried  in 
the  bosom  of  the  everlasting  hills  is  the  Lord's:  and 
whatever  he  has  committed  to  these  stewards  is  a 
solemn  trust,  to  be  used  for  the  advancement  of  his 
kingdom  of  truth  and  righteousness  on  earth  and  in 
doing  good  as  they  have  opportunity  unto  all 
men." 

And  again  I  reflected  that  the  presumption  is  in 


EXCURSUS  129 

favour  of  the  superhuman  origin  of  a  Book  with  such 
an  influence  among  the  children  of  men. 

We  then  visited  an  Institution  of  Learning,  where 
many  students  were  bending  over  their  books;  books 
of  art  and  science  and  philosophy.  I  knew  that  these 
men  were  seekers  after  truth ;  but  would  they  find  it  ? 
Some  were  pursuing  the  knowledge  of  earthly  things 
as  an  end  in  itself  and  not  as  a  means  to  an  end;  and 
by  their  knit  brows  they  were  finding  "  much  study 
a  weariness  to  the  flesh."  By  these  the  Book  of  all 
books  was  neglected;  and  with  all  their  wisdom  they 
knew  not  God.  Others,  while  knowing  the  value  of 
all  truth,  searched  the  one  Book  for  a  solution  of  the 
great  problems  in  which  are  involved  the  issues  of 
eternal  life.  These  put  the  emphasis  on  character  and 
usefulness  and  immortality;  and  they  seemed  to  be 
living  in  the  hope  of  living  forever.  For  them,  time 
was  a  school  of  preparation  for  eternity  and  death  the 
great  Commencement. 

"  'It  is  a  wonderful  Book,"  said  I  to  myself,  "  that 
can  thus  overarch  life  with  promise  and  lofty  hope  and 
aspiration."  And  a  voice  beside  me  seemed  to  be 
saying : 

"  This  is  the  lamp  whose  steady  light 
Guides  the  lone  traveller  in  the  night. 
*Tis  God's  own  Word!    Its  beaming  ray 
Can  turn  a  midnight  into  day." 

My  Guide  said, ''  We  will  now  visit  a  Hospital  " ;  but 
even  as  he  spoke  the  skies  were  overcast  and  the  earth 
began  to  rumble  with  the  footfall  of  armies.  Kings 
and   rulers   could  be  heard  taking  counsel  together 


130        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

and  saying,  ''  Let  us  break  God's  bands  asunder  and 
cast  his  cords  away  from  us !  " 

My  faith  began  to  shake  and  tremble;  whereupon 
a  voice  beside  me  said,  "  Listen !  "  and  lo,  above  the 
roar  of  cannon  and  clash  of  steel  I  heard  a  burst  of 
laughter  out  of  heaven !  **  It  is  God,"  he  said,  "  laugh- 
ing at  the  folly  of  the  Great  Powers  who  conspire 
against  him.  Behold  how  he  has  them  in  derision! 
For  the  decree  has  gone  forth,  '  Thou  art  my  Son ;  to 
thee  will  I  give  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for 
thy  possession.'  Thus  it  is  written  and  thus  it  shall 
be ;  but  alas,  for  the  sorrows  by  the  way !  " 

As  we  approached  the  Hospital  I  saw  over  its  gate- 
way the  words  Hotel  Dieu.  Ambulances  came  roll- 
ing up  with  wounded  and  dying  men,  and  on  every 
ambulance  was  the  symbol  of  the  Cross.  We  entered 
and  walked  through  the  wards  of  the  Hospital;  and 
again  I  saw  upon  the  arms  of  the  nurses  who  min- 
istered to  the  wounded  the  symbol  of  the  Cross.  I 
asked  the  meaning  of  it. 

The  Man  beside  me  said,  "  This  is  the  Spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  which  is  written  in  the  Book.  The  Red  Cross 
stands  for  self-sacrifice  in  the  behalf  of  others." 

On  one  of  the  cots  lay  a  soldier  facing  the  great 
mystery  of  death;  but  he  was  unafraid.  By  his  side 
lay  the  Book  and,  as  he  passed  on,  he  murmured,  "  I 
will  fear  no  evil :  thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort 
me. 

Then  said  I  to  myself,  "  This  is  a  wonderful  Book, 
to  live  by  and  to  die  by." 

As  we  still  journeyed  we  came  to  a  Church  and 
entered   it.     The   service   having   been  opened   with 


EXCURSUS  131 

prayer  a  lesson  was  read  from  the  Book  and  the  con- 
gregation sang,  "  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds  our 
hearts  in  Christian  love." 

I  asked  my  Guide  if  all  in  this  assembly  were  saints. 

"  By  no  means,"  he  answered,  "  There  is  not  a  saint 
among  them.  They  are  all  sinners,  but  sinners  saved 
by  grace.  They  are  reaching  forth  and  pressing  on, 
not  without  much  stumbling,  toward  the  prize  of  the 
high-calling  of  God.  Meanwhile  their  business  is  to 
co-operate  with  the  King  in  setting  up  his  Kingdom 
of  truth  and  righteousness  on  earth." 

*'  The  wheels  of  the  royal  Chariot,"  he  continued, 
*'  move  all  too  slowly,  by  reason  of  the  half-hearted- 
ness  of  the  King's  subjects;  but  in  the  fulness  of  time 
he  that  shall  come  will  come  and  will  make  no  tarry- 
ing; and  on  that  day  every  knee  shall  bow  before 
him." 

On  a  Map  suspended  over  the  pulpit  I  observed  a 
red  line,  drawn  around  a  third  portion  of  the  world. 
"  The  part  thus  enclosed,"  said  my  Companion,  ''  is 
called  '  Christendom,'  because  the  glory  of  the  Book 
has  fallen  over  it.  Within  that  charmed  circle  are  in- 
cluded all  the  light  and  humanity  and  civilization  of 
the  world.  Beyond  it  lie  darkness  and  the  shadow  of 
death." 

How  is  it,"  I  inquired,  *'  that  Christians  have  not 
carried  the  Book  to  those  regions  beyond?" 

*^  They  have  been  so  unmindful  of  their  commission," 
was  his  answer,  ''  that  after  the  lapse  of  nineteen  cen- 
turies there  are  still  twelve  hundred  millions  of  people 
who  have  never  seen  the  Book  or  heard  its  Good  News. 
Meanwhile,    vain    is    their    prayer,    '  Thy    Kingdom 


13^        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

come';  for  the  Gospel  must  first  be  proclaimed 
throughout  the  whole  world ;  then  shall  the  end  be." 

We  next  entered  a  great  Assembly  Hall.  Above  the 
chair  of  the  presiding  officer  were  the  words,  *'  Lib- 
erty, Equality,  Fraternity."  A  man  was  on  his  feet 
presenting  a  Report  which  concluded  with  these  words, 
''Resolved,  that  there  is  no  God."  The  Report  was 
adopted  with  one  consent.  The  streets  were  straight- 
way filled  with  a  surging  mob  who  echoed  the  cry, 
"  There  is  no  God !  "  On  their  shoulders  they  carried 
a  courtesan  to  Notre  Dame,  where  she  was  enshrined 
above  the  high  altar  as  the  Goddess  of  Reason.  The 
Terror  had  begun !  There  were  tumbrils  hastening 
with  victims  to  the  guillotine.  The  gutters  were  run- 
ning red.  The  new-born  Republic  was  tottering  to  its 
fall! 

Then  in  a  moment  we  seemed  to  be  transported  to 
another  Legislative  Hall.  On  a  bell  above  the  door- 
way was  inscribed  the  legend,  "  Proclaim  liberty 
throughout  the  land  and  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof." 
As  we  entered  a  venerable  man  was  invoking  the 
blessing  of  God.  On  the  desk  of  the  presiding  officer 
lay  the  Book,  which  was  to  furnish  forth  the  laws 
and  jurisprudence  of  this  Republic. 

I  asked,  "  What  will  be  the  outcome  ?  Will  the  Re- 
public last?" 

His  answer  was,  "  So  long  as  its  people  are  true  to 
its  landmarks."  And  as  we  came  away  there  was 
an  Anthem  full  of  promise  sounding  through  the  air: 

"  Our  fathers'  God  to  thee, 
Author  of  Liberty, 
To  thee  we  sing! 


EXCURSUS  133 

Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
With  freedom's  holy  light; 
Protect  us  by  thy  might, 
Great  God,  our  King." 

Thereupon  I  found  myself  praying  that  our  coun- 
try, founded  in  the  principles  of  right  and  justice 
which  are  written  in  the  Book,  might  ever  be  loyal 
to  it. 

We  were  now  in  the  open  street.  Men  hurrying  by 
in  the  mad  pursuit  of  wealth  and  pleasure  seemed  quite 
unmindful  of  the  great  verities  of  the  spiritual  life. 
There  were  some  who  who  even  railed  at  the  Book  and 
profaned  the  name  of  God.  At  this  I  marvelled,  and 
would  have  questioned  my  Friend  about  it;  but  even 
as  I  turned  he  said,  ''  Farewell,"  and,  placing  his  Book 
in  my  hand,  vanished  from  my  sight. 

I  opened  the  Book;  on  its  initial  page  was  written, 
"  Jesus :  his  Book,"  and  on  the  next,  "  Search  the 
Scriptures ;  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life, 
and  these  are  they  which  testify  of  me." 

Finding  where  the  Red  Trail  began  I  read  on  and 
on,  following  it  as  one  who  follows  a  Guide  with  bleed- 
ing feet,  until  I  seemed  to  stand  before  a  great  gate 
whereon  was  written  this  benison,  "  The  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all :  Amen." 

And  recalling  the  way  I  had  come  with  my  wonder- 
ful Guide,  and  the  wonderful  things  I  had  seen  along 
the  way,  I  found  myself  sayiflg,  "  The  Book  that 
makes  happy  homes,  contented  workmen  and  capi- 
talists rich  toward  God,  scholars  wise  in  the  problems 
of  eternal  life,  institutions  of  mercy,  governments 
founded   on   the   principles   of   mutual   justice,    and 


134         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

churches  whose  spires  are  like  index  fingers  pointing 
to  a  holy  and  happy  heaven,  is  surely  the  Word  of 
God." 

Then,  turning  once  more  to  the  inscription,  "  Jesus : 
his  Book,"  and  remembering  how  he  knew  and  loved 
it,  preached  and  practiced  it,  commended  it  to  his  fol- 
lowers and  never  mentioned  it  except  in  terms  of 
highest  praise,  I  held  it  reverently  next  my  heart  and 
said,  "  The  Book  that  was  good  enough  for  niy  Lord 
and  Saviour  is  good  enough  for  me." 


XV 
IT  IS  THE  CHURCH'S  BOOK 

IN  Paul's  letter  to  the  Christians  of  Ephesus  he 
speaks  of  the  Church  as  being  "  built  upon  the 
Apostles  and  the  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself 
being  the  chief  cornerstone,  in  whom  all  the  building, 
fitly  framed  together,  groweth  unto  an  holy  temple  in 
the  Lord." 

A  few  years  ago,  the  engineers  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund,  by  sinking  shafts  and  opening  gal- 
leries along  the  walls  of  the  temple,  came  upon  its 
original  foundations.  They  were  seventy  feet  below 
the  surface,  resting  on  the  rocky  slopes  of  Moriah.  At 
the  lowest  angle  of  this  temple  area  they  discovered 
the  corner-stone.  It  was  four  feet  thick  and  fourteen 
broad;  and  the  fine  original  finish  of  its  surface  was 
almost  unimpaired.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
prophet  Isaiah  had  this  very  stone  in  mind  when  he 
uttered  the  Messianic  prediction,  "  Behold,  I  lay  for  a 
foundation,  a  stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  corner- 
stone." 

It  thus  appears  that  the  most  important  place  in  the 
church,  deepest  down,  and  most  rudimental,  is  re- 
served for  Christ.  The  "  rock "  to  which  Christ 
referred,  when  he  said,  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon 
this  rock  will  I  build  my  Church,"  was  not  Peter  but 
Peter's  good  confession,  *'Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son 

135 


136        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

of  the  living  God."  If  this  be  questioned  let  Peter 
himself  be  heard :  "  Ye,  also,  as  living  stones  are 
built  up  a  spiritual  house,  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer 
up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus 
Christ.  Wherefore  it  is  contained  in  the  Scripture, 
*  Behold,  I  lay  in  Zion  a  chief  corner-stone,  elect, 
precious,  and  he  that  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be 
confounded.'  Unto  you,  therefore,  which  believe  he 
is  precious ;  but  unto  them  which  be  disobedient  '  the 
stone  which  the  builders  disallowed,  the  same  is  made 
the  head  of  the  corner,'  and  a  stone  of  stumbling  and 
a  rock  of  offense,  even  to  them  which  stumble  at  the 
Word,  being  disobedient."  (I  Peter  2:1-9:  Cf. 
Acts  4:8-12.) 

(i)  But  if  Christ  is  the  chief  corner-stone  of  the 
Church,  the  Bible  is  its  foundation.  Paul  says,  "  Ye 
are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and 
Prophets,"  this  being  a  common  and  well  understood 
phrase  used  to  designate  the  Scriptures  in  those  days. 

I  wonder  whether  the  destructive  critics  who  are 
engaged  in  undermining  the  popular  faith  in  Scrip- 
ture are  aware  what  they  are  doing?  *'  If  the  founda- 
tions be  destroyed,  what  shall  the  righteous  do  ? " 
The  only  Christ  we  have  is  the  Christ  who  is  revealed 
nowhere  else  but  in  the  Scriptures.  To  impair  their 
credibility,  is  to  impugn  the  only  historical  witnesses 
that  bear  testimony  to  our  religion.  Some  of  these 
destroyers  are  among  the  professed  followers  of 
Christ ;  but  surely  they  do  not  follow  him  in  this ;  for, 
as  we  have  seen,  he  never  uttered  a  word  in  contra- 
vention of  the  plenary  truth  of  the  Bible  but  on  the 
contrary  was  ever  ready  to  vindicate  and  uphold  it. 


IT  IS  THE  CHURCH'S  BOOK  137 

But  how  do  the  Scriptures  serve  as  the  foundation 
of  the  Church?  In  furnishing  all  that  is  necessary 
for  its  organization  and  effectiveness  every  way. 
Herbert  Spencer  says  that  two  things  are  necessary 
in  order  to  a  working  Church,  namely,  creed  and 
cultus. 

The  Scriptures  furnish  the  creed  or  system  of  truth ; 
they  also  furnish  the  cultus,  or  mode  of  worship.  The 
latter,  as  given  by  inspiration,  is  intensely  simple.  The 
beauty  of  holiness  is  the  service  of  the  heart ;  its  form 
being  relatively  of  slight  import.  To  ask,  *'  When  I 
offer  my  prayers,  shall  I  sit  or  kneel  or  stand  upon 
my  feet?"  is  precisely  like  the  question  asked  of  Sir 
Thomas  More  by  his  executioner :  "  Sir,  does  your 
head  lie  right  upon  the  block  ?  "  to  whom  he  answered, 
"  It  matters  naught  about  my  head  so  that  my  heart 
be  right."  Let  us  abide  by  Scripture  in  this  matter, 
avoiding  all  unnecessary  form  and  ceremony  which  is 
but  "  superfluity  of  naughtiness."  For  whatsoever  is 
not  of  faith  is  of  sin. 

But  something  more  than  creed  and  cultus  is  needed 
in  the  making  of  a  Church.  For  one  thing  we  must 
have  a  perfect  Code  of  Morals.  And  this  we  find  in 
the  Decalogue  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  plus  the 
personal  example  of  Jesus  as  the  Ideal  Man. 

We  need  also  a  program  of  life,  or  a  plan  of  cam- 
paign, if  you  will ;  and  this  also  is  clearly  marked  out 
in  the  Scriptures.  What  is  the  business  of  those  who 
belong  to  the  Church  ?  It  is  to  seek  *'  first  of  all  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness."  As  we  walk 
along  the  street  we  mingle  with  two  classes  of  peo- 
ple, who  look  alike  but  are  really  separated  by  an  im- 


138        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

measurable  gulf.  On  the  one  hand,  there  are  some 
who  are  wholly  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth, 
pleasure  or  other  personal  emolument;  who  neither 
know  nor  apparently  care  to  know  anything  beyond 
the  things  of  this  present  life ;  who,  "  forever  hasten- 
ing to  the  grave,  stoop  downward  as  they  run."  On 
the  other  hand  there  are  not  a  few  who  believe  in  the 
coming  of  the  King  and  mean  to  do  all  in  their  power 
to  hasten  it.  They,  also,  are  engaged  in  bread-and- 
butter-work;  but  the  things  of  the  kingdom  are  su- 
preme, and  their  prime  purpose  is  to  hasten  its  coming 
on  earth  and  in  the  lives  of  men. 

(2)  The  Church  is  not  only  founded  on  the  Scrip- 
tures but  is  their  depository,  holding  them  in  trust  for 
safeguarding  and  world-wide  dissemination. 

In  one  of  Paul's  letters — already  referred  to — he 
enjoins  Timothy,  his  successor  in  the  pastorate  of  the 
Ephesian  Church,  to  "  guard  that  good  thing  which 
was  committed  unto  him,  through  the  Holy  Spirit 
which  dwelleth  in  us." 

The  reference  is  distinctly  to  the  paratheke  or  body 
of  Revelation  which  had  been  ''  once  for  all  delivered 
to  the  saints."  Wherefore  the  Church  is  characterized 
as  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth."  The  word 
"  Church,"  or  ekklesia,  means  "  called  out."  The 
Church  is  a  body  of  men  called  out  of  the  world  for 
the  specific  purpose  of  preserving  and  utilizing  this 
deposit  of  Scriptural  truth  until  the  whole  world  shall 
became  acquainted  with  it. 

The  original  germ  or  nucleus  of  Scripture  was  the 
Moral  Law,  together  with  the  Civil  and  Ceremonial 
Law  which  complemented  it.    God's  jealousy  for  the 


IT  IS  THE  CHURCH'S  BOOK  139 

maintenance  of  his  Word  is  shown  by  his  command 
to  the  Levites :  "  Take  this  Book  of  the  Law,  and  put 
it  by  the  side  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  Jehovah 
your  God,  that  it  may  be  there  for  a  witness  against 
thee."  In  the  course  of  time  there  was  added  to  this 
original  nucleus  a  further  set  of  revelations,  known  as 
"  The  New  Testament " ;  and  these  together  with  the 
foregoing  constitute  the  Oracles  as  they  are  com- 
mitted to  us. 

The  Jews  were  set  apart  as  a  Church  or  ''  chosen 
people "  for  the  express  purpose  of  keeping  their 
Oracles  unimpaired  and  passing  them  on  to  the  com- 
ing ages.  In  the  course  of  Paul's  great  argument  on 
Justification  by  Faith,  where  he  shows  that  Jewish 
rites  and  ceremonies  had  no  power  to  save,  this  objec- 
tion is  interposed,  ''  What  advantage  then  hath  the 
Jew  ?  "  to  which  he  answers,  "  Much  every  way ;  first 
of  all  that  they  were  entrusted  with  the  Oracles  of 
God."  This  then  was  the  singular  privilege  and  pre- 
rogative of  the  Jews ;  they  were  *'  chosen  "  to  be  cus- 
todians of  the  Word.  Alas,  they  proved  false  to  their 
trust !  They  rejected  their  Oracles  and  crucified  ''  the 
Hope  of  Israel."  Wherefore,  "  their  candlestick  was 
removed  out  of  its  place  " ;  so  that  every  wandering 
Jew  in  the  world  to-day  is  a  living  monument  of  the 
divine  jealousy  for  the  Scriptures  as  the  palladium  of 
revealed  truth. 

The  Christian  Church,  as  lineal  successor  of  the 
Jewish  Church,  has  a  like  mission.  To  it  are  entrusted 
the  Oracles  for  safe  keeping,  for  exposition  and  for 
propagation  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  Tnis 
trust  is  expressed  in  "  Missions."    To  save  souls  is  a 


140        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

divine  prerogative;  but  to  disseminate  truth,  the 
Gospel  of  The  Oracles  through  which  souls  are  saved, 
is  the  distinct  business  of  the  Church.  When  that  is 
attended  to  God  promises  to  do  the  rest.  A  clear 
understanding  of  this  fact  with  a  corresponding  zeal 
in  Missions  would  speedily  bring  in  the  Golden  Age. 
When  Christ  was  asked  by  his  disciples  for  a  sign  of 
his  second  coming,  he  answered,  "  The  end  is  not 
yet.  The  Gospel  must  first  be  preached  to  all  nations : 
then  shall  the  end  be." 

The  body  of  truth  thus  deposited  with  the  Church 
has  been  placed  in  the  special  care  of  its  ministers. 

In  the  Jewish  Church  the  prophets  were  charged 
with  the  special  duty  of  safeguarding  the  oracles  and 
teaching  them.  In  process  of  time  there  arose  within 
their  number  a  new  order  known  as  Scribes,  that  is, 
transcribers  of  Scripture.  They  were  the  Biblical 
experts  of  those  days,  who  assumed  to  be  able  rightly 
to  divide  the  word  of  truth.  It  was  not  long,  how- 
ever, before  they  began  to  take  undue  liberties  with 
the  Word;  for  which  our  Lord  denounced  them, 
saying,  "  Full  well  do  ye  reject  the  commandment  of 
God  that  ye  may  keep  your  tradition."  And  again, 
"  Woe  unto  you,  mask-wearers !  Ye  shut  up  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  against  men;  for  ye  enter  not  in 
yourselves,  neither  suffer  ye  them  that  are  entering 
in  to  enter.  Woe  unto  you,  blind  guides,  that  strain 
out  the  gnat  and  swallow  the  camel !  Ye  serpents,  ye 
off-spring  of  vipers,  how  shall  ye  escape  the  judg- 
ment of  hell  ?  "  All  this  because  they  were  false  to 
their  Oracles,  adding  to  and  subtracting  from  them, 
overlaying  them  with  their  traditions  and  thus  set- 


IT  IS  THE  CHURCH'S  BOOK  141 

ting  at  naught  their  commission  to  safeguard  and  dis- 
seminate them. 

The  call  to  the  Christian  ministry  is  a  divine  call. 
It  is  a  summons  to  the  sacred  trust  of  protecting,  de- 
fending and  disseminating  the  truth  as  contained  in 
the  Oracles ;  and  fidelity  to  that  commission  is  solemnly 
pledged  in  its  ordination  vows. 

In  the  early  Church  there  were  ministers  who  were 
recreant  to  their  trust.  Paul  was  moved  to  warn 
Timothy  against  such  false  teachers  as  "  creep  in  " 
among  the  people  to  make  shipwreck  of  faith.  He 
warned  the  young  pastor  of  Ephesus  against  their 
specious  inroads  and  with  pathetic  earnestness  en- 
joined him  to  be  faithful ;  "  O  Timothy,  guard  that 
which  is  committed  unto  thee !  " 

Are  there  such  false  teachers  among  us?  It  is  an 
open  secret  that  not  a  few  have  insinuated  themselves 
into  evangelical  pulpits  where  they,  sometimes  bra- 
zenly but  more  often  with  covert  cleverness,  not  only 
undermine  the  written  Word  but  deny  the  Incarnate 
Word.  What  care  they  for  ordination  vows  ?  Honesty 
and  veracity  are  cast  to  the  winds.  "  Oaths  are  but 
straws !  " 

What  is  the  result?  The  question  is  frequently 
asked,  "  Why  are  there  so  few  candidates  for  the 
ministry  ?  '*  The  wonder  is  that  there  should  be  any 
candidates  at  all  when  there  are  so  many  ministers  and 
theological  instructors  who  reduce  the  Gospel  to  nil. 
Why  should  a  young  man  consecrate  his  life  to 
preaching  when  there  is  nothing  to  preach?  In  Ger- 
many, where  the  pulpits  are  largely  given  over  to  ra- 
tionalism, the  supply  of  candidates  is  less  than  one- 


142        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

third  what  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  In  our  own  coun- 
try there  is  a  smaller  but  still  lamentable  falling  off. 
Why  ?  Inquire  at  the  doors  of  Yale,  Harvard,  Prince- 
ton, Cornell  and  other  great  institutions  of  learning, 
notably  our  State  Universities,  where  rationalistic 
science  and  philosophy — usually  not  only  *'  made  "  but 
worn  out  ''  in  Germany  " — are  taught  in  direct  con- 
travention of  the  Scriptures.  Is  it  to  be  expected  that 
young  men  will  be  moved  by  such  instruction  to  devote 
their  lives  to  a  profession  which  is  solemnly  pledged 
to  the  teaching  of  propositions  which  they  must  not 
believe  in? 

A  further  result  is  the  breaking  up  of  the  founda- 
tions of  common  morality.  Faith  and  conduct  go 
together.  One  who  is  more  liberal  than  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  must  needs  be  broader  than  the  Moral  Law. 
It  would  not  be  just  to  say  that  all  ''  liberals  '*  are  on 
the  wrong  side  of  all  current  questions  of  reform; 
but  it  is  quite  within  bounds  to  say  that  ministers  and 
laymen  who  stand  by  the  evangelical  faith  can  always 
be  depended  on  to  support  the  sanctions  of  the  Sab- 
bath, temperance,  the  marriage  relation,  and  every 
other  proposition  which  concerns  the  welfare  of  so- 
ciety. When  the  question  of  opening  our  saloons  on 
Sunday  was  pending  recently  in  our  Legislature,  the 
State  of  New  York  was  ransacked  to  find  ministers 
who  would  advocate  it.  A  few  were  found — eleven 
to  be  exact — and  naturally  all  "  liberal."  There  was 
not  one  among  them  who  stood  for  the  integrity  of  the 
Written  and  Incarnate  Word  of  God. 

It  is  worth  while  for  those  who  thoughtlessly  de- 
claim against  creeds  and  clamour  for  ethical  sermons 


IT  IS  THE  CHURCH'S  BOOK  143 

to  remember  that  truth  and  morality  walk  hand  in 
hand.  There  is  no  sound  and  dependable  morality 
which  does  not  find  its  base  in  obedience  to  revealed 
truth.  To  abandon  that  truth,  as  a  whole  or  in  any 
essential  part,  is  to  loosen  the  sanctions  of  right  and 
righteousness ;  for  ''  as  a  man  thinketh  within  himself 
so  is  he." 

(3)  But  this  is  not  all.  The  Church  is  not  only 
founded  on  the  Scriptures  and  put  in  charge  over 
them  as  a  solemn  trust,  but  as  already  intimated  it  is 
enjoined  to  promulgate  them  to  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth. 

The  Command  is,  ''Preach  the  Word."  The 
Church,  we  repeat,  is  not  expected  to  regenerate  men : 
God  himself  does  that;  but  every  member  of  the 
Church  is,  up  to  the  full  measure  of  his  influence, 
charged  with  the  responsibility  of  carrying  the  in- 
spired Book  with  its  glad  tidings  to  the  regions  beyond 
until  it  has  reached  the  last  man. 

It  is  because  the  Church  has  been  culpably  slow  in 
realizing  this  responsibility  that  the  coming  of  Christ 
has  been  postponed  so  long.  Sporadic  efforts  have 
been  made  to  bring  the  nations  to  a  saving  knowledge 
of  religion  in  other  ways;  but  God's  way  is  the  only 
way.  The  Spirit  works  through  the  Word  for  the 
salvation  of  men.  Wherefore,  preach  the  Word! 
When  that  is  done  we  can  safely  and  hopefully  leave 
the  result  with  God. 


XVI 
IT  IS  EVERYBODY'S  BOOK 

ONE  of   the   most   convincing  arguments   for 
the  divine  origin  of  the  Scriptures  is  their 
singular  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men. 

Here  is  a  Book  for  young  and  old,  for  rich  and 
poor,  for  lofty  and  lowly,  for  wise  and  unwise,  for 
all  who  feel  the  burden  of  sin  and  t^e  need  of  One 
who  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sin,  for  all  who 
realize  the  cramping  limitations  of  this  present  life 
and  long  for  an  outlook  into  life  further  on,  for  all 
and  several  of  every  tribe  and  nation  of  the  children 
of  men.* 

There  is  no  point  in  human  experience  where  this 
Book  does  not  touch  us.  In  pain,  sorrow,  poverty, 
discouragement,    loneliness    and    in    the    article    of 

*  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the  English-speaking 
world  has  no  approved  version  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  cur- 
rent vernacular.  The  King  James  Version  is  not  in  the 
language  of  our  time  but  in  that  of  three  hundred  years 
ago,  and  none  of  the  authorized  revisions  has  brought  it  up 
to  date.  A  foolish  reverence  for  the  dignified  phraseology 
of  the  Westminster  divines  has  left  some  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  people  writhout  a  Bible  in  the  current  tongue:  and, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  Christ  himself  spoke  to  the  people 
in  the  language  of  their  daily  life,  this  is  without  excuse. 

144 


IT  IS  EVERYBODY'S  BOOK  145 

death  it  lends  a  hand  to  uplift  and  support  us. 
Wherever  we  are,  whatever  we  do,  however  we  suf- 
fer, as  Coleridge  said,  *'  The  Bible  finds  us." 

This  is  due,  in  large  measure,  to  the  fact  that  it 
reduces  to  their  simplest  terms  all  the  profound  prob- 
lems which  it  undertakes  to  solve.  And  it  does  this 
by  scrupulously  avoiding  the  terminology  of  the 
schools  and  appealing  directly  to  common-sense. 

I.  Take,  for  example,  the  doctrine  of  the  Atone- 
ment. What  labyrinths  of  argumentation  have  been 
constructed  about  this  vital  truth!  Listen  to  the  ob- 
jections :  "  Is  it  to  be  supposed  that  God  would 
scourge  his  only-begotten  Son  ?  "  ''  Can  the  innocent 
suffer  for  the  guilty  ? "  "  Is  there  any  expiatory 
value  in  suffering  and  death  ?  " 

Ask  the  child  at  your  knee  to  answer  these  objec- 
tions; for,  indeed,  the  argument  must  ultimately  be 
solved  by  the  intuition  of  innocency;  as  it  is  written, 
*'  Except  ye  become  as  this  little  child  ye  shall  in  no 
wise  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

"  Will  the  Father  scourge  his  beloved  Son  ? " 
Surely  not  unless  some  commensurate  end  requires 
it:  nor  unless  the  Son  himself,  in  view  of  that  high 
purpose,  should  with  a  glad  heart  consent  to  it.  But 
listen  to  his  words :  "  Lo,  I  come !  In  the  volume 
of  the  Book  it  is  written,  '  I  rejoice  to  do  thy 
will.' " 

"  Can  the  innocent  suffer  for  the  guilty  ?  "  What 
a  question!  The  innocent  are  all  the  while  and 
everywhere  suffering  for  the  guilty;  kings  for  their 
rebellious  subjects,  parents  for  their  wayward  chil- 
dren;  everybody   for  his  sinning   forbears.     Nor  is 


146        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

there  anything  finer  in  human  nature  than  the  volun- 
tary suffering  of  one  for  another;  that  is,  sympathy, 
which  Webster  defines  as  "  the  quality  of  being  af- 
fected by  the  affection  of  another."  If  it  be  true 
that  we  are  by  nature  the  children  of  God;  what  sort 
of  a  God  would  he  be  who  did  not  suffer  vicariously 
for  us?  By  this  token  the  highest  note  in  the  his- 
tory of  humanity  is  struck  at  Calvary.  Here  is  the 
supreme  expression  of  divine  love.  It  is  just  like 
God.     It  is  just  what  we  should  expect  of  him. 

"  Is  there  any  expiatory  value  in  suffering  and 
death  ?  "  That  depends.  It  must  not  be  overlooked 
that  there  is  a  Covenant  to  be  reckoned  with  in  these 
premises ;  and  to  that  Covenant  there  are  three 
parties,  namely,  God  the  Father,  the  only-begotten 
Son  and  the  sinner,  that  is,  myself.  If  the  Father 
be  willing  to  send  his  Son;  if  the  Son  be  willing  to 
suffer  in  my  behalf ;  and  if  I,  "  the  party  of  the  third 
part,"  be  willing  by  an  obedient  and  appropriating 
faith  to  have  it  so,  where  in  all  the  universe  is  there 
any  who,  without  impertinence,  can  object  to  it? 

Such  is  the  simple  logic  of  Grace  as  the  Bible 
teaches  it.  Alas,  that  in  the  process  of  the  years  we 
are  so  prone  to  drift  away  from  the  wisdom  that 
was  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  when  he  said,  "  Except  ye 
become  as  little  children." 

"  Tell  me  the  story  simply,  as  to  a  little  child, 
For  I  am  weak,  and  weary,  and  helpless  and  defiled; 
Tell  me  the  story  often,  for  I  forget  so  soon! 
The  early  dew  of  morning  has  passed  away  at  noon." 

II.  Or  take  the  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith, 
which  Luther  called  "  the  article  of  a  standing  or  a 


IT  IS  EVERYBODY'S  BOOK  147 

falling  church.''  It  is  easy  to  propound  such  ques- 
tions as,  "  If  Christ  died  for  all,  then  what  need  of 
believing  in  him  ? "  or,  "  What  saving  virtue  can 
reside  in  faith  ?  " 

Ask  these  questions  of  the  schoolmen  and  they  will 
lead  you  into  philosophic  labyrinths  of  confusion 
worse  confounded:  but  go  to  the  Oracles  and,  like 
children  in  a  kindergarten,  you  will  be  answered  by 
picturesque  figures  of  speech,  such  as  these: 

The  ground  is  covered  with  manna,  ''  white  and 
plenteous  as  hoar  frost."  Whosoever  will  may  sat- 
isfy his  hunger  by  eating  it.  But  eat  he  must  or 
famish  for  want  of  it.  And  Jesus  said,  "I  am  the 
living  bread  that  came  down  from  heaven,  of  which 
if  a  man  eat  he  shall  never  die.  And  except  ye  eat 
the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  INIan  ye 
have  no  life  in  you." 

The  water  is  gushing  from  the  rock  at  Rephidim. 
Whosoever  will  may  drink  and  live!  But,  though 
the  stream  at  Rephidim  were  as  broad  and  deep  as 
the  Amazon,  a  man,  refusing  to  drink  would  perish 
of  thirst.  And  Jesus  said,  "  Whosoever  drinketh  of 
the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but 
it  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into 
eternal  life.' 

Thus  the  faith  that  justifies  is  represented  as  a 
simple  appropriation  of  the  benefits  of  divine  grace. 
It  is  a  glad  hand  stretched  out  to  take  the  gift  of 
God.  Could  any  requirement  be  more  reasonable? 
But  we  entangle  our  feet  in  elaborate  sophisms 
which   prevent    our    running   up   the    heavenly   way. 

Note  bene:  all  that  the  Scriptures  require  for  our 


148        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

personal  salvation  is  that  we  shall  accept  Christ  as 
our  Saviour  and  prove  our  sincerity  by  living  accord- 
ingly. *'  Only  believe !  "  "  By-lifian  "  is  the  thing  we 
live  by.  Christ  on  his  Cross  saves  nobody.  It  is 
only  when  Christ  crucified  is  received  by  faith  as 
''  my  Lord,  my  life,  my  sacrifice,  my  Saviour  and  my 
all,"  that  I  am  saved  through  him.  This  is  not 
philosophy;  it  is  common-sense;  and  wise  men  do 
not  hesitate  to  act  upon  it. 

If  we  would  ever  arrive  at  a  solution  of  these  or 
any  other  of  the  great  problems  of  the  spiritual  life 
it  must  be  along  Scriptural  lines;  not  by  following 
blind  leaders  of  the  blind  in  vain  excursions  into  the 
bewildering  mazes  of  ''  fixed  fate,  free  will,  fore- 
knowledge absolute,"  but  by  pursuing  the  plain  and 
simple  paths  marked  out  for  us. 

Much  of  our  education  is  like  arboriculture  in 
Japan.  An  oak  tree  is  taken  from  its  place  on  the 
hill  top  where,  buffeting  the  storms,  it  fastens  its 
roots  upon  the  everlasting  rocks  and  lifts  its  arms 
triumphant  in  the  air;  and  it  is  reduced  by  elaborate 
cultivation  to  the  small  dimensions  of  a  plant  in  a 
pot.  In  like  manner,  as  to  our  attitude  toward  the 
great  spiritual  facts,  we  move  further  and  further,  by 
a  process  of  mental  dwarfing,  from  the  clear  and  sim- 
ple light  of  Scripture  into  a  narrow  and  hidebound 
scholasticism  which  makes  us  unconsciously  but 
disastrously  averse  to  truth. 

It  was  thus  with  Nicodemus,  to  whom  Christ  pre- 
sented facts  which  should  have  commended  them- 
selves to  him  at  once;  but,  being  a  rabbi  educated  in 


IT  IS  EVERYBODY'S  BOOK  149 

hair-splitting  schools  of  philosophy,  he  must  needs 
cry,  ''  How  can  these  things  be?" 

It  has  pleased  God  to  give  us  the  Scriptures  for 
our  guidance  on  the  pathway  of  life.  They  are, — as 
we  should  expect  of  a  divine  chart, — so  plain  that  a 
wayfaring  man,  however  foolish,  need  not  err  therein. 
If  more  were  needed  we  have  it  in  the  vouchsafed 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  whom  it  is  written,  "  He 
will  lead  you  into  all  truth." 

But  all  guidance  is  vain  for  those  who  refuse  to 
follow  it.  Not  even  common-sense,  in  these  premises, 
that  is  to  say,  the  universal  instinct  of  the  race  with 
reference  to  spiritual  things,  is  adequate  for  perfect 
guidance  to  such  as,  by  wilful  and  habitual  wrong- 
thinking,  have  been  diverted  from  the  King's  High- 
way: for  so  it  is  written,  "Ye  shall  know  the  truth 
if  ye  follow  on  to  know  it." 

In  the  interpretation  of  the  divine  Word  common- 
sense  plus  the  illumination  of  the  Spirit  affords  all 
necessary  help.  *'  The  light  which  lighteth  every 
man  which  cometh  into  the  world  "  is  like  a  lantern 
in  our  hands.  If  we  prefer,  we  may  pursue  our 
journey  along  the  dark  and  perilous  ways  of  life,  so 
absorbed  in  discussing  the  qualities  of  the  caloric  and 
actinic  rays  as  to  stumble  into  no  end  of  pitfalls ;  but 
if  we  are  willing  to  follow  the  guidance  of  the  Book, 
with  the  aid  of  the  divine  Spirit,  who  both  illuminates 
its  pages  and  anoints  our  eyes  with  eyesalve  that  we 
may  see,  we  shall  find  the  light  not  only  sufficient 
for  each  passing  hour  but  growing  brighter  and 
brighter  unto  the  perfect  day. 


XVII 
ITS  SYSTEM  OF  DOCTRINE 

SO  much  has  already  been  said  about  the  doc- 
trinal truths  of  Scripture  that  this  chapter  is 
likely  to  be  brief.  There  are,  however,  some 
additional  facts  that  call  for  emphasis,  by  reason  of 
their  contributary  value  in  an  argument  like  this  for 
the  divine  origin  of  the  Book. 

(i)  One  of  these  is  the  comprehensiveness  of  its 
doctrinal  system. 

It  would  be  difficult,  indeed  impossible,  to  suggest 
a  single  problem  in  the  entire  province  of  religious 
thought  which  does  not  find  a  satisfactory  solution 
here.  And  this — considering  the  antiquity  of  the 
Book,  its  limited  proportions  and  the  vast  diversity 
of  its  readers — is  a  remarkable  fact.  If  this  Book 
be  only  "  literature  "  where  in  all  the  literature  of 
the  world  is  there  another  like  it?  We  find  herein 
an  answer  to  all  questions  as  to  God  and  immortality, 
the  life  here  and  the  life  farther  on. 

(2)  Another  fact  worthy  of  note  is  that  the 
emphasis  which  the  Scriptures  lay  upon  these  spirit- 
ual truths  is  measured  precisely  by  their  relative 
value  in  practical  life. 

For  example,  the  personality  of  God,  together  with 
all  those  attributes  which  must  combine  to  form  the 

150 


ITS  SYSTEM  OF  DOCTRINE  151 

perfect  symmetry  of  a  divine  character,  is  so  con- 
stantly iterated  and  reiterated  as  to  leave  no  room 
for  the  faintest  shadow  of  doubt  concerning  it. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  doctrine  of  sin,  which  is 
always  yoked  up  with  retribution  which,  unless  di- 
vinely averted,  is  sure  to  follow  it. 

A  like  emphasis  is  put  upon  the  doctrine  of  Justi- 
fication by  Faith  in  Christ,  and  of  Sanctification 
through  the  Word  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit. 
These  are  not  only  vital  but  eminently  practical 
truths,  inasmuch  as  the  issues  of  life  and  immortality 
are  wrapped  up  in  them. 

It  is  sometimes  affirmed  that  Immortality  is  not 
taught  in  the  Scriptures.  This,  if  true,  would  show 
a  fundamental  defect;  but  it  may  fairly  be  said  that 
no  other  doctrine  is  more  clearly  inculcated.  It  is 
not  only  explicitly  taught  but — which  is  more  sig- 
nificant— it  is  assumed  as  the  very  postulate  of  all 
spiritual  truth.  If  death  ends  all  then  the  Bible  is 
of  less  consequence  to  me,  or  to  any  other  thoughtful 
man,  than  a  Treatise  on  Wholesome  Foods.  In  that 
case  Epicurus  was  right :  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink :  for 
to-morrow  we  die."  But  the  man  whom  we  meet  at 
the  very  doorway  of  the  Scriptures  has  God's  breath 
in  his  nostrils  and  is  therefore  as  immortal  as  Gqd 
himself.  For  what  can  quench  this  spark  of  infinite 
fire?  A  man  created  in  the  divine  likeness  cannot  die 
as  a  beast  dieth.  He  lives  forever!  So  runs  the 
postulate.  What  need  of  laboured  argument  to  prove 
it?  As  well  ask  Euclid  to  postpone  his  excursion  in 
the  higher  mathematics  until  he  has  demonstrated 
the  axioms;  or  a  Professor  of  Applied  Dynamics  to 


15S        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

turn  aside  from  his  curriculum  to  prove  the  existence 
of  force.  Wise  men  waste  no  time  in  philosophizing 
about  self-evident  facts.  Like  the  writers  of  Scrip- 
ture they  assume  them  and  pass  on. 

But  while  the  more  vital  doctrines  of  the  inspired 
Book  are  deeply  emphasized,  the  non-essential  or  less 
important  are  more  lightly  dwelt  on;  not  indeed  so 
lightly  as  to  give  the  impression  that  any  truth  is 
negligible,  but  only  so  as  to  throw  the  more  signifi- 
cant truths  into  bolder  relief.  Thus  room  is  left, 
even  in  the  Lord's  household,  for  a  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  certain  verities  which,  while 
revealed,  are  not  explained,  because  they  belong  to 
God. 

Such,  for  example,  are  "  fixed  fate,  free  will,  fore- 
knowledge absolute."  Here  Calyinists  and  Armin- 
ians  may  agree  to  differ,  because  a  full  understand- 
ing of  the  divine  decrees  is  not  necessary  to  salva- 
tion. So,  also,  the  denominations  may  excusably  be 
at  odds  with  reference  to  ecclesiastical  forms  and 
polities:  since,  important  as  these  may  appear,  they 
are  not  fundamental  in  the  building  of  life  and  char- 
acter. The  significant  fact  is  that  a  sufficient  answer 
is  given  in  the  Scriptures  to  all  questions,  whether 
essential  or  non-essential,  which  have  any  bearing 
whatsoever  on  life  here  and  hereafter. 

(3)  Another  fact  in  this  connection  has  already 
been  referred  to;  namely,  the  universal  adaptation  of 
Scriptural  truth.  Jn  one  of  Augustine's  Sermons  he 
remarks  that  "  the  Scriptures  are  so  deep  that  an 
elephant  can  drown  in  them  and  shallow  enough  to 
be  forded  by  a  lamb."    The  problems  considered  are, 


ITS  SYSTEM  OF  DOCTRINE  153 

indeed,  profound;  but  their  solution  is  adjusted  to 
the  capacity  of  all  sorts  of  men. 

Contrast,  for  example,  the  Scriptural  teaching  as 
to  the  being  and  nature  of  God  with  the  scholastic 
method  of  clarifying  the  same  truth.  The  students 
in  our  Theological  Seminaries  are  'drilled  in  the 
Ontological,  Cosmological  and  Teleological  modes  of 
demonstrating  that  the  world  is  not  a  fortuitous  con- 
course of  atoms  but  a  creation  with  a  Creator  behind 
it.  Open  the  Book  and  straightway  the  whole  argu- 
ment confronts  you ;  "  In  the  beginning  God !  "  If 
the  Bible  had  been  made  for  theologians  it,  too,  might 
have  dealt  in  sesquipedalian  phrases;  but  this  is  the 
universal  highway,  and  no  such  polysyllabic  terms  as 
"Ontological,"  "Cosmological"  or  "Teleological" 
shall  be  found  there.  The  King's  Road  was  not  made 
for  philosophers  but  for  wayfaring  men. 

The  Bible  does  not  attempt  even  a  formal  defini- 
tion of  God.  This  was  left  for  the  Assembly  of 
Westminster  Divines,  who,  summoning  their  highest 
wisdom,  produced  this  splendid  labyrinth  of  words; 
"God  is  a  spirit  (What  is  Spirit?)  infinite  (What  is 
infinite?)  eternal  (What  is  eternity?)  unchangeable 
(Think  of  unchangeableness,  if  you  can!)  in  his  being 
(As  to  'being'  let  Herbert  Spencer  speak,  'Life  is  a 
definite  combination  of  heterogeneous  changes,  both 
simultaneous  and  successive,  in  correspondence  with 
external  co-existences  and  sequences!')  wisdom 
(Who  can  comprehend  omniscience?)  power  (Will 
you  measure  omnipotence  with  a  yard  stick?)  holi- 
ness (The  white  solar  ray!),  justice  (Let  Shylock 
and   Portia  cross  lances  here!)   goodness    ('As   far 


154f        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

as  the  East  is  from  the  West!')  and  truth."  (Here 
Pilate  speaks  for  all  the  schools,  *' What  is  truth?"). 
Thus  the  most  reverent  attempt  to  define  the  great 
Mystery  ends  in  a  succession  of  teratologies.  Now 
open  the  Book  and  hear  the  words  of  the  Great 
Teacher,  "  When  ye  pray  say.  Our  Father."  Enough ! 
God  is  defined.  The  plummet  of  philosophy  can 
sound  no  deeper  depths:  the  dreams  of  prophecy  can 
reach  no  loftier  heights:  and  a  little  child  can  under- 
stand it. 

(4)  It  remains  to  consider  the  important  fact  that 
the  Bible  alone,  of  all  the  so-called  Sacred  Books  of 
the  world  and  of  the  centuries,  so  presents  the  multi- 
farious truths  of  religion  that  they  can  be  arranged 
in  a  coherent  system. 

Who  ever  heard  of  the  doctrinal  system  of  the 
Koran  or  of  the  Zendavesta  or  of  the  Analects  of 
Confucius?  There  is  no  claim  of  consistency  here; 
but  consistency  is  the  crown- jewel  of  the  Scriptures, 
the  oecumenical  creeds  of  Christendom  are  the  logical 
expression  of  our  Scriptural  faith.  The  many  divi- 
sions of  the  Evangelical  Church — however  far  apart 
they  may  be  in  minor  points  of  order — are  all  agreed 
as  to  these  formularies.  A  heretic  in  one  of  these 
denominations  is  a  heretic  in  all.  To  deny  that  God 
is  holy,  that  man  is  a  sinner,  or  that  the  only 
at-one-ment  is  wrought  by  the  God-man,  is  to  be  an 
Ishmaelite  among  all  the  tribes.  The  vital  truths  are 
thus  recognized  as  a  system,  whose  doctrines  hold 
together  like  the  links  of  an  anchor-chain.  Break  one 
link  and  your  ship  is  adrift.  For  this  reason  a  man's 
safety  lies  not  in  accepting  so  much  of  Scripture  as 


ITS  SYSTEM  OF  DOCTRINE  155 

may  please  him,  but  in  adhering  to  the  whole  "  with- 
out sciscitation."  For  its  truths  go  together,  as  if 
intended  to  be,  in  George  Herbert's  words,  "  a  neck- 
lace of  pearls  for  the  adornment  of  the  bride  of 
God." 


XVIII 
ITS  MORAL  CODE 

THE  average  man  is  inclined  to  do  right;  but 
obviously  he  must  have  a  reliable  rule  to  live 
by.    Where  shall  he  find  it? 

Can  tradition  afford  such  a  ride?  Is  it  enough  for 
one  to  do  as  his  fathers  were  accustomed  to  do?  On 
the  contrary,  the  law  of  heredity,  when  applied  in 
the  sphere  of  ethics,  is  a  ball  and  chain  rather  than 
a  door  opening  into  life.  There  is  many  an  inebriate 
who  justifies  his  loss  of  self-respect  on  the  ground 
that  a  strain  of  alcoholism  runs  in  his  veins.  But 
if  he  would  remove  his  father's  decanter  from  his 
own  sideboard  and  put  up  a  brave  fight  for  the  re- 
covery of  his  manhood  with  a  firm  reliance  on  divine 
help  he  would  surely  win  out.  The  sour  grapes 
which  our  forebears  have  eaten  can  not  relieve  us  of 
personal  responsibility.  Every  man  must  answer  for 
himself  before  God. 

Is  it  safe,  then,  to  follow  fashion?  Shall  we  do 
as  others  do;  attend  church  because  church-going  is 
popular  or  run  with  the  multitude  to  do  evil,  as  the 
case  may  be?  Fashion  is  a  fallacious  guide  at  best, 
since  it  changes  with  shifting  time  and  circumstance. 
There  are  some  portions  of  Switzerland  where  goitres 
are  so  much  in  vogue  that  a  man  who  has  not  such 
an  excrescence  is  called  *'  goose-necked."    One  is  sure 

156 


ITS  MORAL  CODE  157 

to  go  wrong  who  merely  follows  the  precept,  "  When 
you  are  in  Paris,  do  as  Parisians  do." 

Or  shall  zve  follow  conscience?  If  we  cannot  find 
a  standard  by  "  comparing  ourselves  with  ourselves," 
shall  we  look  for  it  within  ourselves?  Nay;  let  no 
man  boast  of  being  "  a  conscientious  man " ;  since 
conscience  may  be  seared  by  sinful  habit  as  with  an 
hot  iron.  It  may  be  twisted  out  of  its  normal  direc- 
tion as  the  magnetic  needle  is  deflected  by  the  iron 
in  a  ship's  hull.  Saul  of  Tarsus  persecuted  the  Chris- 
tians *'  in  all  good  conscience."  Philip  the  Second 
followed  his  conscience  in  expressing  a  desire  to 
"  ride  up  to  the  bridle  in  Protestant  blood."  It  is 
not  enough,  therefore,  to  follow  the  inward  voice. 

Where,  then,  is  the  standard?  Nowhere,  unless 
God  himself,  the  God  of  right  and  righteousness,  shall 
reveal  it.  "  If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask 
of  God  who  giveth  to  all  men  liberally  and  upbraideth 
not  and  it  shall  be  given  him."  The  answer  to  that 
asking  is  found  in  the  Scriptures;  and  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  Scriptures  is  afforded  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  One  of  the  official  functions  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  to  regulate  the  conscience  in  that  way. 

The  prime  object  of  prayer  is  to  arrive  at  that 
which  the  perverted  and  unaided  conscience  cannot 
give,  to  wit,  a  clear  expression  of  the  divine  will. 
We  are  bound  to  do  right,  not  merely  what  we  believe 
to  be  right.  We  are  bound  to  live  as  God  in  his 
Word  enjoins  us  to  live.  It  is  not  enough  to  say 
that  our  lives  are  adjusted  to  the  requirements  of 
conscience ;  they  must  be  adjusted  to  the  divine  law 
as   an   enlightened   conscience   enables   us  to   see   it. 


158         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

And  this  enlightenment  is  through  the  divine  Word; 
pi-ecisely  as  a  skipper  corrects  his  compass  by  taking 
an  observation  of  the  stars.  This  Word,  therefore, 
is  ultimate,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  medium  through 
which  God  speaks  to  those  who  are  cordially  disposed 
to  hear  and  obey  him. 

In  the  Ten  Commandments,  which  were  the  origi- 
nal nucleus  of  the  Old  Testament  (Deuteronomy 
25:31),  we  have  a  brief  compendium  of  the  Moral 
Law.  The  ancient  Covenant  with  Israel,  known  as 
*'  the  Covenant  of  Works,"  provided  that  whosoever 
kept  that  Law  "  should  live  by  it " ;  but  perfect 
obedience  was  required,  in  the  necessity  of  the  case, 
since  "  whosoever  offendeth  in  one  point  is  guilty  of 
the  whole  law."  One  offense  makes  a  man  an  out- 
law; just  as  the  deviation  of  a  planet  from  its  orbit 
by  so  much  as  a  single  inch  makes  it  a  wanderer  in 
infinite  space.  Hence  the  need  of  a  universal  remedy 
for  sin ;  inasmuch  as  "  all  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God." 

This  remedy  was  provided  under  the  Old  Economy 
in  the  prophecy  of  Christ,  which  was  known  as  "  the 
Hope  of  Israel."  No  sooner  had  Adam  sinned  than 
he  was  pointed  to  Christ  as  "  the  Seed  of  woman  " 
who  should  come  in  the  fulness  of  time  to  ''  bruise 
the  serpent's  head."  When  Cain  killed  his  brother 
he  was  informed  that  "  the  Sin-oifering  lay  at  his 
door."  Thus  the  Saviour  was  revealed,  and  pro- 
gressively revealed,  in  the  prophecies  of  the  Old 
Testament  for  the  deliverance  of  ancient  sinners;  so 
that  all  who  believed  in  the  coming  Christ  might  live 
by  faith  in  him. 


ITS  MORAL  CODE  159 

Then  the  day  broke.  The  Messiah  came ;  and  with 
him  another  Covenant,  which  is  characterized  as  "  a 
new  Covenant  "  by  reason  of  the  clearer  emphasis 
which  it  puts  upon  the  same  Covenant  of  Grace 
which  was  originally  made  with  Adam  for  all  the 
children  of  men.  The  Seed  of  woman  was  at  hand, 
with  his  face  set  steadfastly  toward  the  Cross  on 
which  he  was  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head.  In  him 
behold  "  the  Lamb  of  God,  slain  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world." 

He  said  that  he  had  come  not  to  destroy  the  Law 
but  to  fulfil  it;  i.e.,  to  pay  the  ransom  due  to  justice 
by  bearing  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree. 
Thus  he  magnified  the  law  while  casting  up  an  high- 
way over  which  the  lawbreaker  might  enter  into  life. 
Never  was  justice  so  vindicated  as  in  the  vicarious 
death  of  Christ,  by  which  it  is  made  manifest  that 
God  can  be  just  and  yet  the  justifier  of  the  ungodly, 
and  through  which  a  man  can  be  just  with  God. 

Nor  was  ever  the  Law  so  honoured  as  in  his  life 
and  teaching.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  his  ex- 
position of  the  Ten  Commandments:  and  in  that 
Sermon  there  is  no  mollifying  of  sin.  As  an  expose 
it  burns  like  acid;  it  blisters  like  fire;  it  searches 
out  the  secret  imaginations  of  the  heart.  It  pro- 
claims that  the  law  is  good,  and  that  it  must  be  kept 
even  to  the  last  jot  and  tittle  of  it.  But  if  broken, 
what  then  ?  "  Go,  sell  all  that  thou  hast,  and  come 
and  follow  me ! "  Why  follow  him  ?  Because  he 
alone  "  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sin." 

In  following  him,  we  shall  find  him  honouring  the 
Law  by  reducing  it  to  its  simplest  terms.     The  Ten 


160        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

Commandments  now  become  two :  ''  Thou  shall  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy 
mind  and  with  all  thy  strength;  this  is  the  first  and 
greatest  Commandment.  And  the  second  is  like 
unto  it;  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself. 
On  these  two  Commandments  hang  all  the  Law  and 
the  Prophets." 

Out  of  these  two  commandments  proceeds  the  Rule 
of  Social  Service.  All  right-thinking  men  and 
women  are  desirous  of  making  this  world  a  better 
place  to  live  in.  We  hear  the  cry  for  help  on  every 
hand.  How  shall  we  answer  it?  What  shall  we  do 
for  the  army  of  neer-do-weels ;  for  the  indolent  and 
ignorant ;  for  "  the  submerged  tenth  " ;  for  God's  poor 
and  the  devil's  poor;  for  the  sick  and  suffering,  for 
widows  and  fatherless?    Hear  the  bitter  cry! 

We  get  together  in  Sociological  Conventions.  We 
collect  statistics,  compare  communities  and  measure 
ourselves  among  ourselves.  We  write  about  civic 
reform  and  prison  reform  and  reforms  without  end. 
We  build  schools  and  hospitals  and  reformatories. 
We  contribute  for  soup-kitchens,  employment  bu- 
reaus, art  exhibits,  entertainments,  university  settle- 
ments. So  far,  so  good;  but  all  this  falls  infinitely 
short  of  the  requirements  of  the  situation.  Our 
measurement  of  the  case  is  too  narrow  and  super- 
ficial. We  are  treating  man  simply  as  an  unfor- 
tunate animal  for  whom  death  ends  all.  We  are 
estimating  his  needs  by  the  cry  of  his  appetites.  He 
is  hungry,  let  us  feed  him!  He  shivers,  let  us  clothe 
him!  He  cannot  distinguish  between  a  chromo  and 
a  masterpiece  of  Raphael;  wherefore  let  us  cultivate 


ITS  MORAL  CODE  161 

his  aesthetic  nature!  Is  man  then  no  better  than  a 
sheep?  Is  he  nothing  more  than  a  stomach  and  its 
appurtenances?  Is  the  problem  of  his  welfare  to  be 
solved  by  the  argument  of  a  full  dinner-pail?  Is 
physical  comfort  the  sum  total  of  happiness? 

God  be  praised  for  all  that  is  being  done  to  allevi- 
ate the  sufferings  of  the  poor  and  destitute;  but  the 
Epicurean  tendency  of  current  sociological  effort  is 
greatly  to  be  deplored.  We  blame  the  sickly  senti- 
mentalism  of  women  who  carry  jellies  and  nose-gays 
to  Murderers'  Row;  but  what  better  is  it  to  supply 
the  present  needs  of  the  unfortunate  \vhile  ignoring 
the  profounder  needs  of  their  spiritual  nature?  Is 
this  our  boasted  *'  progressivism  ?  "  Is  it  not  rather 
a  reversion  to  barbaric  type  ?  "  Let  us  eat  and 
drink,"  quoth  Epicurus,  "  for  to-morrow  we  die !  " 

But  we  do  not  die  to-morrow;  we  live  on  and  on 
through  interminable  to-morrows.  Man  is  more  than 
an  animal ;  he  is  a  child  of  God,  created  in  the  divine 
likeness  and  facing  the  blessed  possibility  of  a  divine 
heritage.  His  life  here  is  only  an  handbreadth;  so 
that  however  sore  his  present  afflictions  may  be  they 
"  endure  but  for  a  moment " ;  while  his  life  hereafter 
stretches  on  forever  and  ever. 

We  err,  therefore,  in  measuring  immortal  needs  by 
physical  standards.  We  fall  infinitely  short  of 
philanthropy  in  seeking  to  meet  an  eternal  need  by 
the  betterment  of  temporal  conditions.  Man  is  in- 
deed an  animal;  so  far  forth  that  when  he  hungers 
he  must  eat  and  when  he  shivers  he  must  be  clothed. 
But  somehow  in  our  beneficences  we  must  get 
eternity  into  the  reckoning.     There  is  no  true  kind- 


162        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

ness  which  does  not  see  beyond  the  narrow  horizons 
of  the  here  and  now :  '*  for  what  shall  it  profit  a  man 
if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  life?" 

Is  there  anywhere  a  perfect  standard  of  such  com- 
prehensive humanity?  Is  there  a  satisfactory  gauge 
by  which  we  may  measure  our  efforts  to  ''  do  good 
as  we  have  opportunity  unto  all  men  ?  "  Is  there  a 
"  good  work  "  anywhere  in  history  by  which  all  other 
works  may  be  measured? 

Aye;  open  the  Book  and  behold  the  Cross!  Here 
is  the  ultimate  standard  of  philanthropy.  The  Cross 
stands  out  in  history  as  a  divine  announcement  of  the 
only  effective  plan  for  the  deliverance  of  the  whole 
man.  It  saves  the  soul  by  blotting  out  sin.  On  the 
one  hand  it  disinfects  memory  by  erasing  the  past; 
and  on  the  other  it  glorifies  hope  by  preparing  the 
soul  to  meets  its  destiny.  Thus  it  saves  a  man,  body 
and  soul,  for  time  and  eternity.  For  the  man  who 
finds  salvation  in  Christ  is  put  in  the  way  of  a  holy 
endeavour  to  quit  himself  like  a  man.  Bring  him  to 
Calvary,  and  you  insure  his  temporal  as  well  as  his 
spiritual  good.  He  is  no  longer  content  with  base 
pursuits  and  companionships;  the  wastrel  is  ashamed 
of  his  profligacy  and  ambitious  to  live  as  an  honest 
man  among  men.  His  whole  life  is  revolutionized 
by  a  vital  apprehension  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

It  is  a  small  matter  to  feed  one  who  is  doomed  to 
the  gallows.  Esau  may  be  willing  to  trade  his  birth- 
right for  a  mess  of  pottage  but  alas  for  the  Jacob 
who  becomes  a  party  to  it.  An  artist,  desiring  to 
paint  a  picture  of  The  Prodigal's  Return,  engaged  a 
beggar  to  sit  as  his  model.     The  next  day  at  the 


ITS  MORAL  CODE  163 

appointed  hour  the  man  appeared  dressed  in  his  best. 
His  appearance  was  improved;  but  he  was  actually 
more  worthless  than  before,  since  he  had  unfitted 
himself  even  to  serve  as  a  model  for  the  prodigal. 
It  is  proposed  in  some  quarters  by  those  who  are 
engaged  in  philanthropic  effort  to  treat  all  prodigals 
in  this  way;  to  furnish  them  with  soap  and  water, 
a  change  of  raiment  and  something  to  eat,  and  leave 
them  in  the  far  country.  No!  No!  Let  us  get  the 
wanderer  well  on  his  way  to  his  Father's  house, 
knowing  that  once  there  he  shall  have  food  and 
clothes  in  plenty,  sitting  at  a  well-filled  table  and 
wearing  the  best  robe. 

This  is  the  method  of  the  Scriptures,  as  illustrated 
by  the  philanthropic  Christ.  He  healed  the  sick  and 
alleviated  the  miseries  of  the  poor  and  suffering;  but 
these  were  mere  by-products  of  his  redemptive  work. 
His  face  was  set  steadfastly  toward  the  Cross;  and 
on  his  way  he  consistently  preached  the  higher  life 
of  reconciliation  with  God.  Let  the  mind  that  was 
in  Christ  Jesus  be  also  in  us. 


XIX 
ITS  PLAN  OF  SALVATION 

THE  Bible  is  like  a  drama,  with  a  distinct  pur- 
pose running  through  it  from  beginning  to 
end.  It  is  clear,  progressive  and  climacteric. 
A  thin  red  line,  as  distinct  as  the  theme  of  an 
oratorio,  can  be  traced  from  The  Protevangel  at  the 
gateway  of  paradise  to  the  last  vision  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, where  the  saints  redeemed  are  represented  as 
glorifying  God  for  their  robes  washed  and  made 
white  in  the  blood  that  cleanseth  from  all  sin. 

We  follow  this  crimson  trail  through  Chronicle  and 
Psalm  and  Prophecy  with  ever-increasing  interest, 
perceiving  more  and  more  in  the  light  of  multiplying 
altars  and  watch-fires  that  some  supreme  event  ap- 
proaches. Suddenly  there  is  a  gush  of  music  from 
the  Judean  hills :  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ; 
peace  on  earth  and  good  will  among  men !  "  The 
denouement  is  at  hand !  Yonder  on  Calvary  the  Hope 
of  Israel,  the  Desire  of  all  nations,  dies  in  anguish, 
bearing  the  world's  sin  in  his  own  body  on  the 
tree.  Then  another  burst  of  music  from  the  heav- 
enly heights,  "  Worthy  art  thou  to  receive  honour 
and  glory  and  power  and  dominion  forever  and 
ever,  for  thou  wast  slain  and  hast  redeemed  us  by 
thy  blood !  "    This  is  the  plot  of  the  tragedy ;  this  is 

t64 


ITS  PLAN  OF  SALVATION  165 

the  crimson   path   that   runs   from   the  gateway  of 
Paradise  to  the  City  of  God. 

And  the  singular  fact  is  that  the  story,  thus  related 
with  a  divine  picturesqueness,  makes  a  personal  ap- 
peal to  every  man.  It  must  needs  be  so;  since  every 
man  is  conscious  of  sin,  of  a  certain  fearful  looking- 
for  of  judgment  and  of  a  desire  to  escape  from  it. 
"What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved?"  is  the  cry  of  the 
sin-cursed  race.  And  just  here  is  where  the  Gospel 
of  the  Book  "  finds  us." 

Let  it  be  said  with  all  possible  emphasis,  that  this 
Scriptural  plan  of  salvation  stands  solitary  and 
alone.  There  are  other  religions  and  other  philoso- 
phies which  undertake  with  less  or  greater  success  to 
solve  important  problems  and  suggest  plans  of  right 
living;  but  there  is  no  religion  or  philosophy  outside 
of  the  Scriptures  which  suggests  a  rational  mode  of 
escape  from  the  guilty  past.  All  others  are  inef- 
fectual at  this  point.  Indeed  not  one  of  the  Sacred 
Books  of  the  false  religions  gives  the  slightest  hint 
or  intimation  of  any  method  of  erasing  the  record  of 
past  sin.  Here  the  Scriptures  stand  alone.  We  are 
saved  by  faith  in  the  atoning  blood ;  and  without  this 
shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission  of  sin. 

And  what  shall  be  said  of  the  Central  Figure  of 
this  drama?  Has  the  adverse  criticism  of  the  cen- 
turies robbed  us  of  Christ?  Nay;  he  remains  by 
common  consent  the  peerless  One.  His  name  is 
"  Wonderful."  Wonderful  in  his  birth !  Wonderful 
in  his  life,  a  life  condensed  in  the  brief  monograph, 
"  He  went  about  doing  good."  Wonderful  in  his 
death:  as  the  infidel  Rousseau  said,  "If  the  death 


166        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

of  Socrates  was  that  of  a  sage  the  death  of  Jesus 
was  that  of  a  God ! "  And  wonderful,  surpassingly 
wonderful,  in  his  influence  through  all  the  succeed- 
ing ages. 

A  Hall  of  Fame  was  recently  dedicated  in  connec- 
tion with  one  of  our  Universities,  and  many  illus- 
trious names  have  been  inscribed  upon  its  walls;  but 
who  would  think  of  comparing  any  of  them  with 
Him?  A  company  of  English  writers  were  once  dis- 
cussing the  relative  greatness  of  the  world's  famous 
teachers.  "  If  Plato  or  Socrates  or  Epictetus  or 
Marcus  Aurelius  or  Sakya-muni  were  to  enter  here," 
said  Charles  Lamb,  "  we  would  immediately  uncover 
in  their  presence;  but  if  Jesus  of  Nazareth  were  to 
appear,  we  would  all  with  one  consent  fall  upon  our 
knees  before  him  !  " 

In  his  exile  Napoleon  said,  "  My  life  once  shone 
with  the  brilliance  of  a  diadem,  but  now  who  cares 
for  me?  Caesar,  Alexander  and  I  dreamed  of  uni- 
versal empire.  Caesar  and  Alexander,  where  are 
they?  And  I  shall  soon  be  forgotten.  But  Jesus 
stretches  a  dead  hand  across  the  centuries  and  rules 
the  world.  He  was  crucified  eighteen  hundred 
years  ago,  after  founding  an  empire  upon  love;  and 
at  this  hour  millions  would  die  for  him !  "  It  is  true 
that  the  glory  of  his  name  increases  with  the  passing 
of  the  years.  His  praises  are  sung  by  a  multitude 
whose  voice  is  as  -the  sound  of  many  waters : 

"All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name! 
Let  angels  prostrate  fall; 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 
And  crov/n  Him  Lord  of  all ! " 


ITS  PLAN  OF  SALVATION  16T 

It  is  no  marvel  that  a  Book  with  such  a  plot  and 
such  a  Hero  should  have  withstood  the  fiercest  at- 
tacks of  its  bitterest  foes.  The  "  impregnable  rock 
of  Scripture,"  as  Gladstone  called  it,  stands  like 
Gibraltar  with  the  wreck  of  many  hostile  fleets  scat- 
tered about  its  base.  It  stands  like  Eddystone,  despite 
all  swirling  tides  and  buffeting  storms,  casting  a 
steady  light  for  the  guidance  of  perplexed  mariners 
on  dangerous  seas.  It  stands  and  withstands,  this 
round-tower  of  the  King  of  kings,  while  over  it  floats 
with  ever-increasing  splendour  the  red  banner  of  the 
Cross,  which  is  the  franchise  and  prophecy  of  the 
Golden  Age. 


XX 

ITS  ENEMIES 

IT  is  not  claimed  for  the  friends  of  the  Bible 
that  they  are  perfect,  only  that  they  are  trying 
to  adjust  themselves  to  its  demands.  They 
know,  far  better  than  their  most  censorious  critics, 
how  far  short  they  fall  of  the  splendid  ideal  set  be- 
fore them.  But  they  keep  on  trying,  like  hill- 
climbers  who  make  their  weary  way  with  much 
stumbling  toward  a  palace  on  the  distant  heights. 
Thus  trudging  on,  amid  adverse  judgments  and  with 
much  confusion  of  face,  they  confidently  hope  for 
better  things  some  day.  Not  counting  themselves  to 
have  apprehended  as  though  they  were  already  per- 
fect, they  forget  the  things  which  are  behind  and 
reach  forth  unto  those  which  are  before  and  press 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  their  high  calling. 
Theirs  is  no  easy  task — let  those  who  think  so  try 
it — but  the  end  crowns  the  work.  "  Eye  hath  not 
seen  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared 
for  them  that  love  him." 

So  much  for  the  friends  of  the  Bible.  On  the 
other  hand,  who  are  its  enemies?  The  Book  stands 
willing  to  be  judged  by  the  enemies  it  makes.  It  is 
undeniable  that  among  them  are  many  whose  out- 
ward lives  are  beyond  reproach:  but  it  is  equally  un- 


ITS  ENEMIES  169 

deniable  that  their  clan  includes  all  reckless  and 
notorious  evil-doers,  all  notorious  thieves  and  adul- 
terers, all  habitual  liars  and  blasphemers,  all  Sabbath 
breakers,  all  midnight  revellers,  all  wilful  opposers 
of  law  and  order,  all  confirmed  criminals,  all  incor- 
rigible tramps  and  professional  neer-do-weels.  All 
these  can,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  be  reckoned 
as  enemies  of  the  Bible.  If  an  exception  be  found  it 
occurs  so  rarely,  and  the  exposure  of  its  insincerity- 
is  so  obvious  as  merely  to  confirm  the  rule. 

But  these  are  not  all.  Among  the  avowed  or 
clandestine  foes  of  Scripture  are  many  who  occupy 
honourable  positions  in  society,  places  of  authority  in 
political  life,  college  professorships,  even  pulpits  and 
theological  chairs.  They  are  scrupulous  in  their 
observance  of  all  the  common  proprieties  and  conven- 
tionalities. The  astute  cleverness  of  a  score  of  such 
respectable  men  is  more  disastrous  to  the  faith  of 
the  unwary  than  the  blasphemous  mouthings  of  a 
legion  of  disreputables.  Nevertheless,  they  do  not 
prevail.  God's  Word  has  come  to  stay;  and  the  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. 

One  of  the  provisions  of  the  ancient  code  of 
Deuteronomy  had  to  do  with  the  preservation  of 
fruit-trees ;  as  follows :  "  When  thou  shalt  besiege  a 
city  a  long  time,  in  making  war  against  it  to  take  it, 
thou  shalt  not  destroy  the  trees  thereof  by  forcing 
an  axe  against  them.  Thou  mayest  eat  of  them;  but 
thou  shalt  not  cut  them  down  (because  the  tree  of 
the  field  is  man's  life)  to  employ  them  in  the  siege: 
only  the  trees  which  thou  knowest  that  they  be  not 
trees  for  meat  shalt  thou  destroy." 


170        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

Our  purpose  in  this  reference  is  to  draw  a  parallel 
between  the  anti-biblical  critics  of  our  time  and  those 
ancient  destroyers  of  fruit  trees.  The  world  has  al- 
ways been  divided  into  two  hostile  camps, — defenders 
of  the  Bible  and  its  enemies.  The  fiercest  wars  in 
history  serve  to  illustrate  this  division;  as  in  the 
Crusades,  where  the  clash  of  steel  under  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem  was  really  a  conflict  between  the 
Koran  of  the  false  prophet  and  the  veritable  Word 
of  God. 

This  destroyer  is  always  abroad  in  the  land.  No 
believer  is  allowed  to  rest  in  undisputed  possession 
of  any  revealed  truth.  The  poet  Whittier's  picture 
of  "The  Reformer"  is  full  of  suggestion: 

"All  grim  and  soiled  and  browned  with  tan 
I  saw  a  Strong  One,  in  his  wrath, 
Smiting  the  godless  shrines  of  men 
Along  his  path. 

"  The  Church  beneath  her  trembling  dome 
Essayed  in  vain  her  ghostly  charm; 
Wealth  shook  within  his  gilded  home 
In  strange  alarm. 

"Yet  louder  rang  the  Strong  One's  stroke, 
Yet  nearer  flashed  his  axe's  gleam; 
Shuddering  and  sick  of  heart  I  woke, 
As  from  a  dream." 

It  were  well  if  this  woodman  had  designs  only 
on  ''  the  godless  shrines  of  men  " ;  but  unfortunately 
his  axe  is  oftentimes  laid  at  the  root  of  the  life- 
giving  truths  of  our  religion.  He  has  invaded  the 
Lord's  orchard,  despite  the  ancient  rule  of  humanity 


ITS  ENEMIES  171 

in  war;  and  the  goodly  trees,  under  whose  shadow 
our  fathers  took  deHght  and  whose  fruit  was  sweet 
to  their  taste,  give  back  the  echo  of  his  blows.  In 
this  however  there  is  no  occasion  for  alarm.  The 
war  against  the  Scriptures  is  as  old  as  the  memory 
of  man.  Voltaire's  words,  uttered  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  ago,  have  often  been  quoted ;  "  I  will  go 
through  your  theological  forest  and  girdle  every  tree; 
so  that  in  a  quarter  of  a  century  not  a  sapling  shall 
be  left  to  you."  Where  now  is  that  axe-man?  But 
the  forest  is  standing  and  at  last  accounts  the  Lord's 
trees  were  still  '*  full  of  sap."    So  Whittier  continues : 

"Take  heart!     The  Waster  builds  again; 
A  charmed  life  old  Goodness  hath. 
The  tares  may  perish,  but  the  grain 
Is  not  for  death. 

"-God  works  in  all  things.    All  obey 
His  first  propulsion  from  the  night. 
Wake  thou,  and  watch.    The  world  is  grey 
With  morning  light !  " 

The  Bible  is  that  Tree  of  Knowledge  under  which 
men  of  reverence  sit  to  contemplate  the  great  verities. 
If  there  be  no  standard  of  authority  there  can,  obvi- 
ously, be  no  certainty  as  to  any  truth.  Jason  in 
search  of  the  Golden  Fleece  must  be  able  to  direct 
his  going  by  the  North  Star,  else  all  is  "  dead  reck- 
oning "  and  his  ship  drifts  at  the  mercy  of  the  winds. 

There  are  only  three  conceivable  seats  of  authority 
as  to  spiritual  things: 

One  is  "  the  infallible  Church ; "  but  the  Church, 


172        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

divided  as  it  is  and  speaking  with  diverse  tongues, 
must  prove  its  infallibility  before  any  thoughtful 
man  can  concede  it. 

Another  is  the  Bible,  our  "  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice."  We  have  laid  down  an  antecedent  pre- 
sumption that  God — assuming  that  there  is  a  God — 
would  not  leave  His  children  without  some  sort  of 
trustworthy  revelation  of  His  holy  will.  The  Bible, 
as  we  have  seen,  claims  to  be  such  a  revelation;  say- 
ing of  itself  that  it  was  "  written  by  holy  men  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God." 

Now  suppose  the  Church  and  the  Bible  alike  to  be 
untrustworthy,  what  remains?  The  only  other 
standard  of  authority  is  Reason  or  "  the  inner  con- 
sciousness." But  observe  where  this  lands  us;  every 
man  becomes  an  ultimate  law  unto  himself.  Could 
presumption  further  go ?  "I  am  Sir  Oracle,  and 
when  I  ope  my  lips  let  no  dog  bark !  "  We  have 
rejected  the  infallible  Church  and  the  infallible 
Book,  only  to  affix  our  faith  to  an  infallible  Ego ! 

In  any  event,  however,  they  say  the  Bible  must 
go.  This  is  the  logical  conclusion  of  the  anti- 
Biblical  criticism  of  these  days. 

Farewell,  old  Book!  The  inexorable  censor  sits, 
like  Jehoiakim  before  the  fireplace  in  his  summer 
house,  Bible  on  knee  and  penknife  in  hand,  calmly 
mutilating  the  only  reliable  franchise  of  our  Christian 
hopes !  Has  it  not  occurred  to  those  *'  snipers  "  who 
from  behind  their  pulpits  and  theological  chairs  are 
accustomed  to  aim  ill-grounded  propositions  against 
the  Scriptures  that — however  insignificant  the  effect 
upon  the   impregnable   rock — immortal   souls   are  in 


ITS  ENEMIES  173 

the  range  of  their  poisoned  darts  ?  They  have  turned 
the  rejoicing  of  many  a  weak  believer  into  tears  of 
hopeless  doubt,  and  taken  from  those  who  are 
abroad  in  the  bleak  wilderness  of  temptation  their 
only  weapon  of  defense,  to  wit,  "  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit  which  is  the  Word  of  God." 

Such  axe-men  are  to-day  the  most  zealous  foes  of 
Scripture.  They  do  not  depend  upon  the  methods 
of  open  warfare.  The  troops  of  Ulysses  are  no 
longer  hurled  against  the  walls  of  Troy;  it  is  the 
enemy  in  the  belly  of  the  wooden  horse  that  menaces 
the  city.  The  truth  is  no  longer  opposed  with  a  chal- 
lenge but  with  a  rising  inflection  as  in  Genesis  3:1, 
"  Yea,  hath  God  said  ? "  The  argument  is  urged 
with  a  more  or  less  equivocal  and  left-handed  denial 
of  the  supernatural  factor  in  both  the  written  and 
the  Incarnate  Word.  Such  a  method  of  procedure 
is  disingenuous,  of  course,  and  admittedly  so;  since 
along  the  lines  of  common  honesty  there  is  no  serious 
effort  to  defend  it. 

This  is  precisely  what  Jesus  foretold :  "  Many 
false  prophets  shall  arise  and  shall  deceive  many ;  " 
and  again,  *'  Beware  of  false  prophets  which  come 
to  you  in  sheep's  clothing  but  inwardly  are  ravening 
wolves !  "  The  teaching  of  the  apostles  abounds  in 
like  admonitions,  as  where  Peter  says,  "  There  shall 
be  false  teachers  among  you,  who  privily  shall  bring 
in  damnable  heresies;  and  many  shall  follow  their 
pernicious  ways ;  by  reason  of  whom  the  way  of 
truth  shall  be  evil  spoken  of."  This  being  so,  it  is 
the  manifest  duty  of  all  Christians  to  be  on  their 
guard,  and  of  all  Christ's  ministers  to  speak  plainly 


1T4*         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

of  the  axe-men  who  thus  subtly  and  treacherously 
oppose  the  truth. 

To  speak  thus  is  not  intolerance;  else  Christ  and 
his  apostles  would  not  have  led  the  way.  Nor  can 
it  offend  the  faithful;  since  he  who  takes  offense  by 
putting  on  the  garment  pleads  guilty,  ipso  facto,  by 
confessing  that  it  fits  him. 

The  false  prophet,  as  Jesus  says,  may  be  "  known 
by  his  fruits ; "  not  merely  by  his  moral  misde- 
meanors but  by  his  way  of  putting  things.  The  old- 
time  infidel  would  have  frankly  thrown  down  his 
gauntlet  on  this  wise,  "  The  Bible  is  a  fraud  and 
Jesus  is  an  impostor."  Not  so  our  modern  strate- 
gist: he  commands  a  large  vocabulary  of  equivocal 
words  and  phrases.  One  touchstone,  however,  will 
always  betray  him.  He  denies  that  God  has  truth- 
fully revealed  himself  either  in  the  Scriptures  or,  by 
logical  sequence,  in  Christ. 

(i)  He  will  tell  you  that  he  "  believes  the  Bible  " ; 
but,  pursuing  the  subject  further,  you  discover  that 
he  is  juggling  with  words.  When  he  says  *'  the 
Bible  is  true  "  he  means  only  that  it  is  occasionally 
so.  When  he  calls  it  the  ''  Word  of  God  "  he  means 
only  that  it  is  one  of  many  such  words.  When  he 
talks  about  "  inspiration "  he  means  simply  an  in- 
spiration common  to  the  world's  literature.  And 
when  he  ascribes  ''  divinity  "  to  Christ,  it  is  only  the 
divinity  which  he  shared  with  all  others  who  are 
created  in  the  image  of  God. 

If  words  were  coins  such  men  would  be  liable  to 
arrest  for  counterfeiting:  and  presumably  they  are 
thus  liable  in  that  Appellate  Court  where  the  term 


ITS  ENEMIES  175 

honesty  is  not  restricted  to  commercial  transactions 
but  has  to  do  with  the  secret  imaginations  of  the 
hearts  of  men. 

(2)  And  if  you  still  insist  on  the  veracity  of  the 
Scriptures,  this  clever  adversary  will  inquire  with  a 
lifting  of  his  eyebrows,  "  Is  your  religion  then  the 
religion  of  a  Book?  "  To  this  we  may  safely  answer, 
"Why  not?"  It  is  the  religion  of  the  Bible  as 
the  ultimate  and  only  authority  concerning  Christ 
and  his  Gospel.  Suppose  you  ask  him  where  he 
finds  his  standards  of  authority.  If  he  rejects  the 
Book  which  is  the  only  accepted  authority  as  to 
Christ,  his  only  alternatives  are  to  take  either  an 
infallible  Church  or  an  infallible  ego.  Out  of  this 
dilemma  no  escape  is  possible,  except  into  the 
camp  of  the  agnostics  whose  shibboleth  is  ''  I  know 
not." 

(3)  Then  he  will  probably  ask  why  you  lay  such 
emphasis  on  "  the  question  w^hether  Moses  wrote  the 
Pentateuch  or  not  ?  "  And  that  will  further  disclose 
his  utter  disingenuousness :  for  nobody  knows  better 
than  he  that  the  question  is  not,  "Who  wrote  the 
Scriptures  ? "  but,  "  Are  they  true  and  trustworthy 
as  coming  from  God?"  The  question  is  not  as  to 
the  amanuensis  who  held  the  pen  but  as  to  the  Divine 
Mind  that  moved  it.  It  is  indeed  of  slight  moment 
who  wrote  the  Pentateuch  or  Isaiah  or  any  other 
portion  of  the  Scriptures,  except  so  far  as  their  au- 
thorship is  definitely  stated  in  the  Book  itself;  but  it 
is  of  vital  importance  to  know  whether  the  claim 
which  the  Bible  makes  for  itself  is  correct  or  not,  to 
wit,  that  it  was  "inspired"  (literally,  God-breathed) 


176        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

and  transmitted  through  holy  men  who  were  moved 
by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

(4)  Next,  this  mask- wearer  will  ask  "  what  differ- 
ence a  few  unimportant  mistakes  can  make  with  the 
broad  doctrinal  and  ethical  teachings  of  Scripture  ?  " 
There  again  he  is  disingenuous.  In  fact  he  does  not 
limit  himself  to  "  a  few  unimportant  ^listakes ; "  he 
really  holds  that  Genesis  is  a  compilation  of  myths 
and  legends;  Deuteronomy  a  wholesale  forgery;  the 
prophesies  of  no  significant  value,  and  the  entire 
Book  a  mingled  tissue  of  truth  and  falsehood.  It  is 
not  a  question  of  infinitesimals  but  of  wholesale  es- 
sentials. It  is  not  a  question  of  "  specks  in  the 
marble  of  the  Parthenon,"  but  whether  there  ever 
was  a  Parthenon  and,  if  so,  whether  it  was  really 
built  of  marble  or  only  of  wood,  hay  and  stubble. 
The  Bible  as  interpreted  by  such  mischievous  teach- 
ers is  not  **  the  best  of  books ; "  nay,  so  far  from 
that,  if  one  hundred  of  the  most  reliable  volumes 
of  current  literature  were  placed  beside  it,  the  critics 
themselves  being  the  judges,  the  Bible  would  be  the 
least  trustworthy  of  them  all! 

(5)  You  may  then  expect  this  ingenious,  disin- 
genuous disputant  to  inquire  with  an  air  of  amaze- 
ment, whether  you  ''  really  believe  there  are  no 
mistakes  in  the  Bible  ?  "  To  which  you  may  safely 
answer,  "  No,  there  are  no  mistakes  in  the  Bible ; 
though  there  are  mistakes  such  as  might  naturally 
be  expected  in  the  process  of  transmission  and  trans- 
lation, in  the  King  James  version  and  in  other  cur- 
rent versions  of  it."  Whereupon  he  will  be  pretty 
certain  to  say,  "  Oh,  you  mean  you  believe  in  the 


ITS  ENEMIES  17T 

inerrancy  of  the  Original  Autograph!  Did  you  ever 
see  it?  And  what  have  we  practically  to  do  with 
it?"  At  this  point  suppose  you  meet  him  with  a 
similar  question  as  to  the  Incarnate  Word,  "  Did 
you  ever  see  Christ?  Did  any  living  person  ever  see 
him?  Did  you  ever  hear  anybody  say  that  he  had 
ever  seen  him?    Why  then  believe  in  him  at  all?" 

Attention  is  again  called  to  the  singular  parallel 
between  Christ  and  the  Scriptures:  (a)  They  are 
both  alike  called  "  the  Word  of  God."  (b)  They  are 
both  theanthropic ;  that  is,  the  Divine  and  human 
are  inextricably  blended  in  their  fabric:  yet  not  so 
as  to  prevent  their  absolute  truth  and  faultlessness. 
(c)  Both  originals  have  vanished  from  sight;  and 
are  transmitted  through  succeeding  ages  only  through 
the  lives  and  labours  of  fallible  men.  (d)  Never- 
theless, we  believe  in  the  unseen  Christ  and  thus  be- 
lieving "  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory."  And,  for  a  like  reason,  we  believe  in  the 
Original  Autograph  of  the  Scriptures  as  it  left  the 
pens  of  those  inspired  men.  Despite  all  errors  in 
the  transmission  of  the  two  Words,  written  and  in- 
carnate, they  both  exist  to-day  in  such  substantial 
perfection  as  to  be  "  profitable  unto  every  good 
work "  and  wholly  effective  in  guiding  and  saving 
men. 

(6)  But,  says  the  clever  controversialist,  "  What 
difference  does  it  make  whether  the  historical  and 
scientific  parts  of  Scripture  are  true  or  not,  so  long 
as  its  doctrinal  and  ethical  propositions  are  reliable? 
Is  not  its  purpose  to  save  men  ? "  The  answer  is 
plain;  to  say  that  the  only  purpose  of  the  Scriptures 


178        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

is  salvation  is  pure  assumption.  They  were  intended 
to  be  ''profitable  in  all  things,  so  that  a  man  may 
be  thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good  work." 
And  if  they  are  not  veracious  in  respect  to  science 
and  history,  what  ground  have  we  for  committing 
ourselves  to  their  spiritual  guidance?  Falsus  in  uno, 
falsus  in  omnibus.  If  the  veracity  of  your  witness 
is  successfully  impugned  the  only  thing  for  him  to 
do  is  to  step  down  and  out  of  the  witness  box.  The 
Bible  is  not  reliable  any  way  unless  it  is  trustworthy 
every  way. 

(7)  "  But,"  continues  our  specious  opponent, 
"  this  is  a  question  for  experts.  The  points  at  issue 
are  such  as  can  only  be  determined  by  the  pro- 
foundest  scholarship.  Would  you  set  yourself 
against  all  progress  and  advanced  erudition?  Biblical 
critics  are  now  engaged  in  their  elaborate  investiga- 
tions; and  it  behooves  the  unlearned  to  patiently 
await  their  conclusions."  Is  there,  then,  no  erudition 
except  the  microscopic  skill  to  split  a  hair  or  analyze 
a  fly-speck  in  the  margin  of  the  text?  Or  is  there 
really  a  broader,  deeper,  higher,  truer  scholarship 
which  can  only  be  gotten  in  the  secret  place  with 
God? 

But  suppose  we  take  these  men  at  their  word  and 
concede  that  wisdom  will  die  with  them,  what  are 
"  the  unshod  people  "  to  do  meanwhile,  whose  souls 
are  agonizing  for  a  solution  of  the  problems  of 
eternal  life?  Must  they  hold  in  abeyance  the  great 
question,  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  And  how 
long  are  they  to  keep  themselves  in  such  suspense, 
hung  up  like  Mohammed's  coffin  betwixt  heaven  and 


ITS  ENEMIES  179 

earth  ?  Have  not  "  experts  "  been  discussing  these 
questions  since  th^  foundation  of  the  world?  And 
with  what  result?  No,  gentlemen;  the  Bible  is  the 
Book  of  the  people,  and  its  salvation  is  intended  for 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  "  Where  are  the 
wise?  Where  are  the  disputers  of  this  world?  Hath 
not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of  men  ?  " 

Specialists  have  their  place;  let  them  keep  it.  Our 
Lord's  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  **  He  shall  lead 
you  into  all  truth,'*  was  not  addressed  to  Doctors  of 
Divinity  and  Theological  Professors  only  but  to  all 
his  disciples.  The  Bible  is  removed  by  that  promise 
from  the  exclusive  province  of  expert  scholarship 
and  placed  within  the  universal  ken.  Let  those  who 
are  open  and  avowed  enemies  of  the  Word  pour  on 
their  destructive  acids  and  kindle  their  hostile  fires; 
meanwhile  it  behooves  such  as  feel  the  just  constraint 
of  covenant  vows  to  vindicate  their  loyalty  to  the 
Scriptures  by  approving  and  defending  them.  The 
people  are  themselves  the  jury  in  this  case,  as  they 
were  in  the  Lord's  controversy  on  Mount  Carmel 
where,  as  between  Elijah  and  the  priests  of  Baal, 
their  verdict  was,  "  The  Lord  he  is  the  God !  " 

(8)  "  But  you  are  mistaken,"  says  our  friend  the 
enemy,  "  in  asserting  that  our  purpose  is  destructive. 
It  may  be  that  incidentally  the  faith  of  some  has 
been  shaken;  but,  whatever  may  have  occurred  in 
the  past  while  we  were  clearing  away  the  debris,  we 
are  now  engaged  in  constructive  work,"  So  much 
the  worse.  You  are  right  in  your  confession  thus 
far;  you  have  found  a  lot  of  lame  people  walking 
with  crutches  and,  having  persuaded  them  to  throw 


180        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

away  their  Bibles,  it  is  high  time  that  you  should 
furnish  some  other  support  for  their  uncertain  steps. 
But  what  do  you  propose?  A  new  Bible?  Aye,  you 
tell  us  that  under  the  clear  blaze  of  your  erudition 
the  Bible  has  come  to  be  ''  a  new  Book."  It  is  in- 
deed a  new  book;  full  of  errors  on  all  points  within 
the  cognizance  of  the  senses,  yet  heralded  by  you  as 
a  trustworthy  guide  in  matters  beyond  sight!  The 
thinking  world  derides  you.  Is  this  the  edifice  which 
you  have  been  so  laboriously  constructing?  Is  this 
your  "  refuge  from  the  storm  and  shadow  from  the 
heat?"  A  Bible  without  ground  of  confidence?  A 
religion  without  the  supernatural?  A  Gospel  with- 
out oracles  ?  A  Christianity  without  Christ  ?  A 
Salvation  without  blood? 

(9)  "  Nay,  but  we  do  not  deny  Christ,"  they  say; 
"  On  the  contrary  we  insist  on  loyalty  to  Christ. 
Our  whole  system  is  Christocentric.  Back  to 
Christ!  "  But  back  to  what  Christ?  To  the  Christ 
of  the  Bible  which  you  renounce?  To  the  Christ 
who  affixed  his  authoritative  seal  to  the  so-called 
"  fables  "  of  the  Flood,  of  Lot's  wife  and  of  Jonah  in 
the  whale's  belly  ?  To  the  Christ  who  called  the  Scrip- 
tures ''  truth  "  and  never  breathed  a  word  or  syllable 
against  their  absolute  inerrancy?  To  the  Christ  who 
said,  "  Search  the  Scriptures  "  (not  for  the  purpose 
of  disproving  them  but  because)  "in  them  ye  think 
ye  have  eternal  life  and  these  are  they  which  testify 
of  me?  "  Or,  in  your  process  of  "  construction  "  are 
you  giving  the  world  a  new  Christ,  too?  One  of 
your  leaders  recently  said  from  his  theological  chair, 
**  The  time  has  come  for  a  re-statement  of  the  doc- 


ITS  ENEMIES  181 

trine  of  Christ."  Timeo  Danaos,  dona  ferentes.  We 
may  be  pardoned  for  affirming  that,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  not  enough  for  you  to  say  that  you 
believe  in  Christ. 

(lo)  However,  we  are  privately  advised  by  cer- 
tain of  these  teachers  that  the  truths  of  the  New 
Theology  are  esoteric;  that  is,  for  private  consump- 
tion and  not  to  be  declared  on  the  house-tops. 
Worse  and  worse!  There  are  no  Eleusinian  mys- 
teries in  the  religion  of  Christ.  "  An  highway  shall 
be  there  and  a  way;  and  the  wayfaring  man  though 
a  fool  shall  not  err  therein."  Did  not  the  Master 
say,  "  Except  ye  become  as  a  little  child  ye  shall  in 
no  wise  see  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  "  The  man  '*  in 
holy  orders "  who  confidentially  avows  opinions 
which  he  dare  not  preach  in  the  great  congregation 
is  false  to  his  obligation  to  declare  the  whole  counsel 
of  God.  More  than  that,  he  is  a  coward.  If  not, 
let  him  in  vindication  of  his  manhood,  not  to  say 
of  his  Christianity,  stand  forth  in  the  open  and, 
whether  men  will  hear  or  forbear,  fearless  of  con- 
sequences and  indifferent  to  tenure  of  office,  pro- 
nounce the  truth  without  mumbling  or  mouthing  as 
the  God  whom  he  professes  to  serve  has  enabled 
him  to  understand  it. 

We  are  sadly  in  need  of  two  particular  classes  of 
men  in  these  days.  On  the  one  hand  we  need 
infidels,  outspoken  infidels,  who  will  take  their 
places  in  the  open  and  lift  up  their  banners  against 
Zion.  What  has  become  of  the  atheists  of  former 
days?  Where  are  the  brave  scoffers  who  defied 
Jehovah  and  ran  headlong  on  the  bosses  of  his  shield  ? 


18£        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

Where  is  Goliath  with  his  spear  like  a  weaver's 
beam?  Where  are  the  fierce  wolves  of  the  wilder- 
ness? Alas,  these  are  the  degenerate  days  of  wolves 
clad  in  sheep's  clothing  and  mingling  with  the  flock; 
of  Doeg  the  Edomite  skulking  behind  the  altar;  of 
Shimei  in  ambush  throwing  stones  at  the  King. 

On  the  other  hand  we  need  believers;  out  and  out 
believers,  who  know  the  truth  and  knowing  dare 
maintain.  There  is  no  room  for  epicenes,  "  middle- 
of-the-road  "  men,  Redwalds  with  the  motto,  "  In 
utramque  paratus,"  professing  to  stand  on  neutral 
ground  while  practically  opposing  themselves  to  Christ 
and  the  Scriptures.  Everywhere  the  call  is  for  men 
to  follow  him;  men  of  conviction  and  of  courage  to 
speak  forth  the  last  atom  of  it;  men  who  do  not 
mince  nor  mumble  in  their  utterance  but  by  faith 
proclaim,  "  These  things  we  know ; "  men  who  to  the 
full  measure  of  their  light  shine  forth  and  withhold 
not  aught  of  truth  as  God  gives  them  to  see  it. 


XXI 

ITS  INDESTRUCTIBILITY 

A  S  far  back  as  runneth  the  memory  of  man 
A%  there  has  never  been  an  hour  of  cessation  in 
■*"  the  attack  upon  the  Scriptures  as  the  Word 
of  God. 

The  nineteenth  century  was  ushered  in  amid  a 
whirlwind  of  infideHty.  In  France  the  Reign  of 
Terror  had  swept  away  all  sanctions  of  the  Moral 
Law.  It  was  solemnly  resolved  in  the  Corps  Leg- 
islatif  that  "  There  is  no  God."  The  Sabbath  was 
erased  from  the  statute  books.  The  friends  of  The 
Encyclopaedia  were  chanting  requiems  at  the  tomb  of 
Christianity.  All  Europe  followed  the  fashion.  In 
our  own  country  religion  was  at  its  lowest  ebb.  It 
is  a  matter  of  record  that  in  the  year  1800  there  were 
only  three  professing  Christians  in  Yale  College. 
The  author  of  the  "  Age  of  Reason,"  in  which  were 
presented  all  the  stock  arguments  against  the  iner- 
rancy of  Scripture,  brought  his  manuscript  to  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  for  review.  ''  Do  not  unloose  this 
tiger,"  said  Franklin ;  "  for  if  our  people  are  what 
they  are  with  the  Bible,  what  would  they  be  with- 
out it?"  But  the  tiger  was  unloosed.  Paine  and 
his  confreres  appeared  to  have  everything  their  own 
way.     A    tidal    wave    of    unbelief    swept   over   our 

183 


^ 


184         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

country.  It  seemed  as  if  the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep  were  broken  up. 

The  twentieth  century  has  begun  in  the  same 
way.  He  is  indeed  a  purblind  student  of  the  past 
who  does  not  perceive  that  Christianity  has  made 
magnificent  progress;  yet  every  step  of  that  progress 
has  been  bitterly  and  stubbornly  contested.  There  is, 
however,  a  startling  contrast  between  the  former 
methods  and  those  of  to-day.  The  assault  is  now 
from  within  the  gates.  The  open  and  avowed  leaders 
of  infidelity  are  gone.  Bradlaugh  in  England  and 
Ingersoll  in  America  were  the  last  of  the  Old 
Guard.  Open  warfare  has  given  way  to  strategy. 
The  Trojan  horse  has  been  wheeled  within  the  walls 
of  the  Church  itself;  where  a  body  of  militant 
critics,  many  of  them  wearing  the  sacred  garb  of 
theological  professors  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel, 
have  been  attempting  to  draw  the  bolts  of  the  citadel. 
Here  is  a  significant  fact:  there  is  not  a  fundamental 
truth  of  the  Christian  religion  which  has  not  re- 
cently been  called  in  question  and  assailed  by  men 
in  holy  orders,  that  is,  by  men  solemnly  covenanted 
to  uphold  and  defend  those  very  truths.  The  objec- 
tive point  of  the  assault  is  now  as  ever  the  integrity 
of  Holy  Writ.  For  it  is  well  and  rightly  understood 
that  if  the  citadel  be  overthrown  the  city  itself  must 
fall. 

What  is  the  result?  It  might  easily  be  supposed 
from  the  blowing  of  trumpets  and  beating  of  drums, 
and  from  the  frequent  claim  that  all  scholarship  is 
arrayed  against  the  credibility  of  the  Scriptures,  that 
the  Lord  of  the  Scriptures  had  himself  retired  from 


ITS  INDESTRUCTIBILITY  185 

the  field.  But  he  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall 
laugh!  The  thing  that  hath  been  shall  be.  Despite 
the  boastful  prophecy  of  Voltaire  there  are  saplings 
still  growing  in  the  forest  of  God.  There  is  a  multi- 
tude of  reverent  scholars  who  stand  for  the  ancient 
landmarks  without  trumpeting  their  achievements  or 
blazoning  them  on  the  dead  walls,  and  there  is  an 
innumerable  host  of  devout  people  who  are  in  no 
danger  of  being  taken  up  in  the  lips  of  talkers.  The 
Lord  reigns  and  the  citadel  is  safe.  The  heart  of  the 
universal  Church  beats  true  to  the  inspiration  and 
trustworthiness  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Let  us  observe  how  or  wherein  this  continuous  as- 
sault upon  the  Scriptures  has  affected  their  integrity 
if  at  all. 

As  to  the  Scientific  propositions  of  Scripture 
enough  has  already  been  said,  so  that  a  word  here 
will  suffice.  It  is  claimed  in  some  quarters,  with 
much  noisy  vociferation,  that  the  leading  scientists  of 
recent  times  are  all  arrayed  against  the  Book.  This 
can  be  conceded  only  on  the  assumption  that  a 
scientist  becomes  a  *'  leading "  scientist  merely  by 
virtue  of  his  unbelief.  Otherwise  the  statement  is 
denied  in  toto.  What  of  Descartes  and  Locke? 
What  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  Michael  Faraday? 
What  of  Dana  and  Agassiz  and  Lord  Kelvin?  The 
last  words  of  Professor  Dana  to  the  members  of  my 
class  at  graduation  are  worth  repeating :  "  Young 
men,  you  are  going  out  into  a  world  where  you  must 
meet  an  unceasing  assault  upon  your  faith.  Let  me 
ask  you  to  remember,  as  my  parting  counsel,  that 
whenever  you  are  in  doubt  amid  the  confused  voices 


186         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

of  scientific  controversy  you  may  always  with  per- 
fect confidence  affix  your  faith  to  the  statements  of 
the  Word  of  God." 

The  one  proposition  of  the  Scriptures  which  has 
challfenged  contradiction  is  its  doctrine  of  Origins,  to 
wit,  ''  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and 
the  earth."  To  offset  this  the  doctrinaires  have  sug- 
gested a  theory  of  evolution  which,  it  is  asserted,  is 
now  "  universally  accepted."  So  far  is  this  from 
being  true  that  we  may  safely  leave  the  disposition 
of  the  evolution  theory  to  scientists  themselves,  since 
it  is  most  vigorously  opposed  in  that  quarter. 
Charles  Darwin,  head-master  of  the  Guild,  was  frank 
to  admit  that  evolution  is  as  yet  a  mere  hypothesis. 
We  may  be  excused  for  insisting  that,  under  such 
circumstances,  the  shout  of  victory  on  the  part  of 
those  who  deny  the  Mosaic  cosmogony  is  somewhat 
premature.  The  age-old  view  of  the  creation  has  not 
been  nor  can  it  ever  be  overthrown  by  guess-work. 
The  guns  that  batter  down  the  pyramids  must  be 
charged  with  other  ammunition  than  the  stuff  that 
dreams  are  made  of. 

Nor  have  the  efforts  of  the  experimentalists  met 
with  any  better  success.  They  have  much  to  say  of 
autogenesis,  or  a  beginning  without  God.  As  an  old- 
fashioned  believer  I  for  one  am  ready  to  surrender 
my  faith  in  the  Biblical  doctrine  of  origins  so  soon 
as  one  of  these  experimentalists  shall  create  a  single 
grain  of  sand.  Surely  this  is  not  overmuch  to  ask 
of  men  whose  magic  deals  with  worlds  and  universes ! 
Let  them  produce  a  daisy  or  a  caterpillar,  to  begin 
with.     Until  some   such   result  shall  have  been  at- 


ITS  INDESTRUCTIBILITY  187 

tained,  we  may  be  pardoned  for  standing  by  the  old 
manifesto,  '*  In  the  beginning  God." 

The  same  is  true  of  the  assaults  made  upon  the 
historicity  of  the  Biblical  annals.  Attention  has  al- 
ready been  called  to  this  point.  Suffice  it  here  to  say 
that  not  a  single  record  of  the  slightest  importance 
in  the  Pentateuch  or  other  historical  books  of  Scrip- 
ture has  ever  been  successfully  impugned;  while  on 
the  contrary  the  researches  of  archaeologists  are  con- 
tinually verifying  them. 

The  Theology  of  the  Book  also  stands  as  the  valid 
philosophy  of  God.  There  are  no  atheists  nowadays. 
The  infidelity  of  the  last  half  century  has  not  busied 
itself  in  denying  the  true  God  so  much  as  in  making 
new  gods.  The  Pagan  world  has  still  its  pantheon 
of  idols  formed  of  wood  and  stone;  but  of  late 
civilized  idolaters  are  industriously  making  gods  out 
of  the  gray  matter  of  their  own  fantastic  brains. 
These  are  none  the  less  idols ;  since  having  eyes  they 
see  not,  and  having  ears  they  hear  not.  Any  god 
except  the  God  who  has  revealed  himself  in  the 
Scriptures  will  answer  for  a  modern  free-thinker. 
Law,  Force,  Energy,  the  All-pervading  Soul  of  the 
Universe,  a  "  Something  not  ourselves  that  maketh 
for  Righteousness,"  what  matters  it  which  of  these 
you  prefer?  They  are  all  specters;  dull,  senseless, 
inanimate  things.  In  vain  do  their  devotees  cry, 
"  O  Baal,  hear  us !  "  There  is  no  voice,  nor  answer 
nor  any  that  regardeth. 

"  An  immense  solitary  Specter  stands ! 
It  hath  no  shape,  it  hath  no  sound, 
It  hath  no  place,  it  hath  no  time; 


188        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

It  is  and  was  and  shall  be; 

It  is  never  more  nor  less,  nor  sad  nor  glad; 

Its  name  is  Nothingness! 

Power  walketh  high  and  Misery  doth  crawl, 

The  clepsydron  drips,  the  sands 

Fall  down  in  the  hour  glass, 

And  the  hands  around  the  dial  sweep. 

The  Specter  saith  '  I  wait ! ' 

And  at  the  last  it  beckons,  and  they  pass. 

And  still  the  red  sands  fall  within  the  glass, 

And  still  the  hands  around  the  dial  sweep, 

And  still  the  waterclock  doth  drip  and  weep; 

And  that  is  all !  " 

The  result  is  precisely  what  it  was  in  ancient 
Greece;  in  the  midst  of  innumerable  shrines  and 
statues  stands  an  altar  representing  the  consummate 
fruit  of  human  wisdom,  inscribed,  ''  To  the  unknown 
God!"  And  still  from  Mars'  Hill  ring  out  the 
words ;  "  Him  whom  ye  ignorantly  worship,  declare 
we  unto  you !  "  The  God  of  the  Bible  remains  as 
the  only  God  who  satisfies  human  need.  He  alone 
controls  the  destinies  of  nations  and  the  children  of 
men.  He  alone  gives  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy 
for  mourning  and  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit 
of  heaviness.  This  is  the  God  of  the  Scrif)tures ;  and 
there  is  none  other  beside  him. 

The  Ethics  of  the  Scriptures  are  the  juridicial 
basis  of  Civilization  throughout  the  world.  How 
much  of  its  Moral  Code  has  perished  in  the  hot  fires 
of  the  centuries?    Not  one  jot  or  tittle  of  it! 

Its  singular  Plan  of  Salvation  is  the  only  answer 
which  has  ever  been  suggested  to  the  question, 
"  How  can  a  man  be  just  with  God  ?  "  The  crux  of 
the  argument  is  the  Cross.     It  is  the  one  supreme 


ITS  INDESTRUCTIBILITY  189 

unanswerable  guaranty  of  the  perpetuity  of  the 
Scriptures  as  the  inspired  Word  of  God. 

A  century  and  a  h^lf  ago  Lord  Chesterfield,  while 
visiting  Paris,  was  entertained  at  the  table  of  a  dis- 
tinguished lady  of  The  Encyclopaedia.  She  said  to 
him,  "  My  lord,  I  am  informed  that  your  English 
Parliament  is  composed  of  five  or  six  hundred  of  the 
most  profound  and  brilliant  thinkers.  This  being  so, 
will  you  explain  ht)w  it  is  that,  under  their  authority, 
the  Bible  is  still  recognized  as  final  authority  in  the 
legislation  of  your  country,  and  how  it  is  that  the 
obsolete  religion  of  the  crucified  Nazarene  is  main- 
tained as  your  State  religion  ? "  His  answer  was, 
"  Madam,  this  is  a  mere  temporary  makeshift ;  we 
are  casting  about  for  something  better;  and  when  we 
discover  it,  the  Bible  and  Christianity  will  certainly 
give  way." 

The  world  has  been  casting  about  during  all  these 
centuries  for  something  better  and  has  not  yet  dis- 
covered it.  And  the  thing  that  hath  been,  will  be. 
Dreamers  will  still  dream  on;  undevout  thinkers  will 
pursue  their  hopeless  quest ;  kings  and  potentates  will 
continue  their  search  for  a  new  and  better  religion 
as  they  have  hitherto  done  by  the  light  of  Smithfield 
fires  and  autos-da-fe;  but  thoughtful  and  reverent 
men  and  women  will  go  on  loving  their  Bibles.  The 
troubled  will  run  for  comfort  to  this  shelter  as  to 
the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land.  Sinners 
will  search  the  Scriptures  for  a  clear  hope  of  salva- 
tion and  find  it  under  the  Cross.  For  there  is  no 
weapon  in  the  arsenal  of  unbelief  that  can  prevail 
against  the  Yea  and  Amen  of  the  living  God, 


AFTERWORD 

I  HAVE  one  more  reason  for  maintaining  and 
defending  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures  and  it  is 
a  purely  personal  one.  Its  value  is  set  forth  in 
a  homely  old  proverb  which  says,  "  The  proof  of  the 
pudding  is  in  the  eating."  No  amount  of  argument 
in  behalf  of  Revelation — or  of  any  other  proposi- 
tion, for  that  matter — will  avail  for  those  who  de- 
cline to  taste  and  see  for  themselves.  Philip's  argu- 
ment with  Nathaniel  as  to  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus 
reached  its  logical  conclusion  in  the  words,  "Come 
and  see."  God  himself  is  practically  nothing  to  one 
who  refuses  to  entertain  him. 

It  is  five  and  forty  years  since  the  writer,  then  a 
young  theologue,  found  himself  and  his  calling  at  the 
death-bed  of  a  stranger.  So  long  ago  did  the  old 
Book  "find  me"  (Thanks,  Coleridge,  for  that  word!) 
and  never  once  in  these  five  and  forty  years  has  it 
failed  me. 

(i)  The  longer  I  live  and  the  more  familiar  I  be- 
come with  the  arguments  for  and  against  the  trust- 
worthiness of  the  Book  the  more  firmly  do  I  believe 
it.  A  Christian  who  stands  braced  against  "  the 
impregnable  rock "  (Thanks,  Gladstone,  for  that 
phrase!)  is  not  likely  to  be  moved  by  a  procession 
of  players  on  instruments  trumpeting  as  they  pass. 

I  have  lived  to  see  the  former  positions  of  the  anti- 
biblical  critics  abandoned,  almost  without  exception, 

190 


AFTERWARD  191 

one  by  one.  The  "  new  ground "  which  they  now 
professedly  occupy  is  so  far  from  being  new  that 
their  campfires  are  kindled  in  the  very  ashpits  left 
by  Paine  and  Voltaire  more  than  a  century  ago.  But 
there  is  this  difference;  whereas  the  banners  that 
floated  over  the  old-time  encampment  wore  the  bold 
legend,  "  We  are  infidels,"  they  now  read,  "  We  are 
Christians."  These  foes  of  Scripture  call  themselves 
*'  progressive."  I  too  believe  in  progress ;  but,  be- 
cause I  have  studied  the  singular  habits  of  the  hermit 
crab,  I  much  prefer  to  call  myself  conservative. 
The  comets,  doubtless,  as  they  whizz  through  infinite 
space  with  a  freedom  that  knows  no  rhyme  nor 
reason,  make  sport  of  the  planets  that  move  content- 
edly in  their  so  ancient  orbits;  but  what  care  the  old- 
fashioned  planets  so  long  as  they  laugh  last?  The 
great  body  of  believers  in  the  universal  Church  are 
progressive-conservatives,  moving  on  but  never  so 
rapidly  as  to  exceed  the  speed-limit  as  indicated  by 
the  progress  of  the  pillar  of  cloud. 

The  advanced  liberals  are  relatively  few  but  "  be- 
hold what  a  great  fire  a  little  spark  kindleth !  "  Not 
content  to  walk  in  sunlight  they  propose  to  drive  the 
chariot  of  the  sun.  To  them  the  lesson  of  Phoebus 
is  as  meaningless  as  the  "  fables  "  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  "  myths  and  legends  "  of  the  New.  I 
for  one  can  see  no  reason  for  falling  in  with  their 
views.  The  company  of  those  who  "  just  know,  and 
know  no  more,  their  Bibles  true  "  is  more  congenial 
for  any  humble  follower  of  Christ.  He  believed  the 
Bible,  knew  it  by  heart,  loved  it,  preached  it,  prac- 
ticed it,  commended  it  to  his  disciples  as  the  means 


192         WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

of  evangelizing  the  world,  and  never  once  in  all  his 
ministry  spoke  a  word  or  syllable  against  its  absolute 
truth  and  trustworthiness.  The  Book  which  my  Lord 
and  Saviour  thus  approved  is  good  enough  for  me. 

I  am  not  unaware  of  the  difficulties  which  con- 
front one  who  thus  accepts  the  Bible  with  its  presen- 
tations of  spiritual  truth.  The  problems  which  lie 
beyond  the  purview  of  the  five  physical  senses  are 
not  to  be  cut  like  Gordian  knots.  Their  solution  calls 
for  the  exercise  of  faith;  a  sixth  sense  with  which 
man  alone,  in  distinction  from  all  the  lower  orders 
of  life,  has  been  equipped  so  that  he  might  apprehend 
the  things  which  are  unseen  and  eternal.  But,  "  the 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,"  and  by  the  same 
token  against  all  the  truths  which  centre  in  him.  We 
are  naturally  averse  to  accepting  what  we  cannot  see 
and  handle.  Hence  the  difficulty  which  always  be- 
sets us  in  approaching  the  verities  of  the  spiritual 
life. 

Nevertheless  to  my  mind  it  is  easier  to  accept  the 
Scriptures  as  inerrant  than  to  believe  that  a  loving 
God  would  leave  his  bewildered  children  to  wander 
in  a  world  of  confused  voices  without  a  trustworthy 
guide.  No  such  guide  is  found  in  reason,  in  con- 
science, in  hierarchial  "  infallibility,"  in  the  so-called 
Sacred  Books  of  the  false  religions  or  anywhere 
else.  There  are  unimportant  diversities  and  dis- 
crepancies in  each  and  all  of  the  many  hundreds  of 
Scriptural  versions  in  the  world  to-day.  But  what 
else  should  be  looked  for?  It  is  easier  for  one — in- 
comparably easier — to  believe  that  God  did  once 
really  and  authoritatively  speak  through  "  holy  men 


AFTERWORD  193 

who  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  his  Spirit,"  and 
that  the  Word  thus  written  has  been  preserved  by  a 
special  providence  in  essential  purity  as  we  now  have 
it,  than  to  believe  in  a  God  who  would  leave  us  to 
blunder  on  through  a  labyrinthine  life  into  the  great 
unknown  with  no  adequate  effort  to  direct  us  along 
the  way. 

To  speak  more  specifically,  now,  of  the  three  great 
doctrines  of  the  Book;  namely,  a  personal  God,  holy, 
just  and  good;  a  man  with  a  divine  birthright,  but 
fallen  into  sin  and  thereby  alienated  from  God;  and 
the  God-man,  through  whom  an  at-one-ment  is  ef- 
fected between  God  and  man. 

These  three  doctrines,  containing  the  sum  and  sub- 
stance of  Scripture  as  set  forth  in  the  teachings  of 
Christ,  are  all  subtly  or  avowedly  denied  by  the 
advanced  liberalism  of  our  time.  The  personal  God 
is  reduced  to  an  impersonal  force  which  is  scarcely 
the  specter  of  a  god.  The  man  whom  the  Scriptures 
represent  as  created  in  the  likeness  of  God,  was  not 
created  at  all  but  evolved  from  the  lower  orders  of 
life  and,  as  the  creature  of  heredity  and  environ- 
ment, is  an  utterly  irresponsible  being.  And  the  God- 
man  is  no  God-man  but  a  mere  man  posing  as  God 
and  therefore  impotent  to  save.  Thus  the  whole 
doctrinal  system  of  the  Scriptures  is  more  or  less 
politely  bowed  out  of  doors. 

Not  infrequently  this  is  done  by  men  in  holy 
orders  and  under  covenant  vows.  As  an  honest  man 
I  do  not  like  to  contemplate  this  fact.  As  a  man 
of  average  common-sense  I  am  unable  to  understand 
it.    As  a  Christian  I  recoil  from  it.    As  a  conserva- 


194        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

tive  I  find  it  easier  to  accept  each  and  all  of  the 
great  doctrines  referred  to  than  to  reject  them  in 
the  manner  indicated,  notwithstanding  the  mysteries 
involved  in  the  necessity  of  the  case. 

In  order  to  reject  the  God  of  the  Scriptures  I 
should  have  to  believe  in  effects  without  causes,  in 
design  without  a  designer  and  in  law  without  a  law- 
giver. However  great  my  faith  may  be — or  call  it 
credulity  if  you  prefer — it  is  not  equal  to  the  strain 
thus  put  upon  it. 

In  order  to  reject  the  Scriptural  doctrine  of  man 
I  should  have  to  believe  in  a  theory  of  evolution 
which  is  confessedly  a  mere  hypothesis,  in  the  ir- 
responsibility of  a  being  equipped  with  a  sovereign 
will,  and — notwithstanding  the  scientific  fact  of  dy- 
namic conservation — in  the  possible  extinguishment  of 
the  mightiest  of  known  forces.  My  progressive 
friend,  in  the  name  of  science  I  protest  that  I  can- 
not keep  up  with  you. 

In  order  to  reject  the  Biblical  doctrine  of  the  God- 
man,  I  should  have  to  affirm  that  Christ  was  either 
man  alone  or  God  alone.  In  the  latter  case  I  must 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Docetists  whose  un- 
tenable theory  was  exploded  a  thousand  years  ago. 
In  the  former  case  I  must  face  an  impossible  dilemma. 
For  if  Christ  was  a  mere  man  he  must  have  been 
either  a  good  man  or  a  bad  one.  If  he  was  a  good 
man  how  shall  I  account  for  the  fact  that  he  arro- 
gated to  himself  every  one  of  the  divine  attributes, 
accepted  the  devotion  due  to  God  alone  and  died  for 
making  himself  equal  with  God?  It  is  equally  difficult 
to  believe  that  he  was  a  bad  man;  for  the  whole 


AFTERWORD  195 

world  pays  tribute  to  his  singularly  blameless  life 
and  character.  But  we  must  believe  something  about 
him. 

And  there  is  no  middle  ground.  He  was  either 
what  he  claimed  to  be  or  he  was  a  shameless  im- 
postor who  was  justly  sentenced  to  die  on  the 
accursed  tree. 

In  view  of  these  facts  I  say  it  is  easier  to  believe 
in  the  Bible  than  to  follow  with  those  who  reject  it. 

(2)  But  it  is  not  enough  to  say,  in  looking  back 
over  these  five  and  forty  years,  that  the  Bible  has 
forced  itself  on  my  confidence  by  its  intrinsic  rea- 
sonableness. /  have  seen  it  making  men:  and  I  have 
cherished  the  hope  that  it  might  ultimately  build  me 
up  into  "  the  fulness  of  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
a  man."  My  own  many  and  most  lamentable  failures 
and  shortcomings  have  served  the  more  to  emphasize 
its  reliability  as  an  "infallible  rule  of  faith  and 
practice." 

When  Jesus  said  to  his  disciples,  *'  Search  the 
Scriptures  "  he  went  on  to  give  them  a  good  and 
sufficient  reason  for  doing  so ;  namely,  because  "  in 
them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  these  are  they 
which  testify  of  me."  He  thus  intimated  that  he 
himself  is  the  secret  of  eternal  life;  and  so,  in  my 
observation  and  personal  experience,  have  I  found 
him.  The  measure  of  our  success  in  the  building  of 
character  is  our  intimacy  with  the  Incarnate  Word 
as  revealed  in  the  written  Word  of  God. 

To  neglect  the  Bible,  then,  is  to  invite  leanness  of 
soul.  This  Book  is  the  lattice  from  behind  which 
the   Shepherd   looks  out   upon  the   Shulamite  maid. 


196        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

His  promise  is,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway;"  but 
there  are  times  when  our  eyes  are  so  holden  that 
we  cannot  see  him.  We  can  always,  however,  catch 
the  vision  by  opening  the  Book.  It  is  in  the  faith- 
ful and  habitual  searching  of  the  Scriptures  that  we 
keep  up  an  unbroken  friendship  and  fellowship  with 
him.  The  Rock  upon  which  our  faith  fastens  its 
flukes  may  be  invisible;  but,  laying  our  hand  upon 
the  anchor  chain,  we  are  assured  by  the  throbbing 
of  its  mystic  current  that  our  faith  is  still  secure, 
''  taking  hold  of  that  which  is  within  the  veil.*' 

(3)  Nor  yet,  in  looking  backward,  is  it  enough  to 
say  that  I  have  believed  the  Scriptures  and  have 
endeavoured  to  translate  them  into  the  terms  of  com- 
mon life  and  character;  it  is  only  fair  to  add  that, 
as  a  minister  under  bonds  to  "  preach  the  Word,"  I 
have,  in  all  good  conscience  sought  in  this  manner 
to  commend  it  to  my  fellow-men. 

The  temptations  to  do  otherwise  are  specious  and 
multifarious.  There  is  no  lack  of  "  people  with 
itching  ears  "  who  go  about  from  one  sanctuary  to 
another  in  search  of  "  preaching  for  the  times  " ;  and 
the  newspaper  announcements  of  church  services 
indicate  that  they  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  it.  The 
homiletic  shoemaker  who,  instead  of  sticking  to  his 
last,  becomes  a  jack-of -all-trades  is  certain  to  be 
master  of  none.  His  coign  of  vantage  is  the  Word. 
In  art,  science  and  philosophy  he  is  only  a  novice  at 
best;  and  when  he  ventures  into  politics  he  is  smil- 
ingly compassionated  by  editors  and  others  who 
make  a  business  of  it.  The  result  of  such  poach- 
ing on  alien  preserves  is  usually  not  that  "  foolish- 


AFTERWORD  197 

ness  of  preaching  "  which  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  but  the  preaching  of  foolishness  which 
neither  saves  nor  helps  anybody  and  has  its  labour 
for  its  pains. 

But  the  minister  who  stands  by  his  commission 
in  the  preaching  of  the  Word  is  on  his  native  heath. 
Nor — assuming  fair  ability  and  reasonable  industry — 
will  he  lack  an  audience;  since  the  deepest  longing 
in  the  soul  of  the  average  man  is  to  know  the  way 
of  salvation  as  indicated  in  the  Oracles.  The  people 
who  come  to  church  do  not  care  particularly  to  hear 
what  the  preacher  thinks  about  this,  that  or  the 
other  thing:  but  they  are  deeply  concerned  in  know- 
ing the  mind  of  God. 

The  prevailing  passion  for  sensationalism  has  much 
to  do  with  the  decline  of  pulpit  power  in  these  days. 
All  sorts  of  adventitous  helps  are  resorted  to  in  the 
effort  to  gain  a  hearing;  as  if  an  audience  were 
worth  while  except  for  what  the  preachers  can  do 
with  it.  And  the  flying  trapeze  is  sure  to  lose  in  the 
long  run.  The  only  sensationalism  which  is  per- 
missible in  the  pulpit  is  that  which  borrows  its  light- 
ning from  the  bolts  of  heaven. 

We  profess  to  believe  in  God.  It  is  for  us  to 
preach  Theology  so  that  our  hearers  shall  realize  the 
divine  personality  as  vividly  as  Pharoah  did  when 
Moses  proclaimed  the  name  of  Jehovah  before  him. 

We  profess  to  believe  in  Man  divinely  born  and 
alienated  from  God.  It  is  for  us  to  paint  sin  so  black 
that  sinners,  pricked  to  the  heart,  will  be  forced  to 
cry,  "Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do?"  If 
Nathan  the  prophet  had  followed  the  custom  which 


198        WHY  I  BELIEVE  THE  BIBLE 

obtains  in  some  quarters  nowadays,  he  would  have 
closed  his  discourse  with  the  Parable  of  the  Little 
Ewe  Lamb  and  gone  away  with  the  congratulations 
of  the  king  and  his  courtiers  on  having  delivered  "  a 
beautiful  sermon " :  but  the  Parable  of  the  Little 
Ewe  Lamb  was  only  the  feather  of  a  shaft  that,  flying 
from  the  prophet's  bow,  smote  David  in  the  region 
of  the  heart  and  sent  him  staggering  to  his  closet  in 
the  housetop  with  the  cry,  "  Have  mercy,  O  God,  for 
I  have  sinned  against  thee !  " 

We  profess  to  believe  in  Christ  as  the  only  Saviour 
from  the  penalty  and  power  of  sin.  In  pursuance  of 
that  belief  we  preach  the  Incarnation:  "  Great  is  the 
mystery  of  godliness,  God  manifest  in  flesh !  "  We 
preach  the  Atonement,  pointing  to  the  Cross  as  Moses 
pointed  the  dying  Israelites  to  the  effigy  of  the  brazen 
serpent  with  the  cry,  "  Look  and  live !  "  We  preach 
the  Resurrection;  that  is,  life  and  immortality 
brought  to  light  in  him  who,  rising  from  the  sepulchre 
in  Joseph's  garden,  entered  heaven  in  our  behalf 
with  the  keys  of  death  and  hell  at  his  girdle. 

These  are  some  of  the  truths  which  we  are  com- 
missioned to  preach.  They  open  up  from  a  thousand 
standpoints  in  infinite  variety  but  always  point  one 
way.  Behold  the  Cross !  And  Jesus  said,  ''  I,  if  I 
be  lifted  up  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.*'  He  is  the 
great  magnet.  His  is  the  drawing  power.  Is  it  sen- 
sationalism we  want?  The  tragedy  of  his  self- 
denying  love  in  our  behalf  is  the  sensation  of  the 
ages! 

What  opportunities  are  here  for  enchaining  the 
attention   and   capturing   the   hearts   of   men!     The 


AFTERWORD  199 

Bible  presents  us  with  a  quivering  chain  of  sensa- 
tions from  beginning  to  end.  Alas,  the  fault  is  ours ! 
We  preachers  are  so  prone  to  dulness;  and  dulness 
in  the  pulpit  is  an  unpardonable  sin.  What  we  need 
is,  not  to  lead  our  congregation  into  pastures  new, 
but  to  acquaint  ourselves  more  intimately  with  the 
green  fields  that  lie  along  the  water  of  life.  Lord, 
open  thou  thy  Word  to  the  shepherds  of  Israel! 

So,  in  the  experience  of  the  years,  the  power  of 
the  Bible  has  increasingly  taught  me  the  truth  of  it. 
In  this  little  volume  I  have  tried  to  give  my  reasons 
for  believing  it,  for  adjusting  my  life  to  it,  and  for 
preaching  it.  If  a  single  reader  be  led  thereby  to 
place  a  deeper  and  sweeter  confidence  in  my  Saviour's 
Book  I  shall  be  glad  and  happy. 

Dear  Bible!  Book  of  the  Church  militant  and 
triumphant;  Book  that  our  fathers  touched  with  rev- 
erent hands  and  our  mothers  stained  with  grateful 
tears;  Book  that  no  bonfires  have  been  able  to  con- 
sume nor  fuming  acids  to  impair;  Book  of  comfort 
for  the  sorrowing,  of  strength  for  the  weary,  of 
courage  for  the  living  and  hope  for  the  dying;  my 
Saviour's  Book  and  mine;  if  I  forget  thee  may  my 
right  hand  forget  its  cunning!  If  I  preach  thee  not, 
may  the  living  coal  no  longer  kindle  on  my  lips! 
May  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  if 
I  find  not  in  thy  saving  truths  my  chiefest  joy! 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


Date  Due 

D  1 8  m 

>.:.;■  ^!^    ; 

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NO  2^-. 

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